Terror message a prank by Class IX student

Tribune News Service

Solan, March 19

A hoax WhatsApp message to a medical representative, Gaurav Sharma, at Nalagarh about the delivery of RDX to let loose terror in the state on Holi turned out to be a prank played by a Class IX student of Army Public School, Mamoon near Pathankot.

Sharma, who received a series of such messages from an overseas number 639380336500 yesterday, immediately informed the Nalagarh police. On receiving the information, the person’s antecedents were verified by the local police while the technical cell of the Southern Range, Shimla, was put on the job to trace the origin of the messages.

The matter was accorded utmost seriousness, said Inspector General of Police, Southern Range, Zahur H Zaidi.

In less than three hours, the police traced the origin of the message to Bibhore Sharma, a resident of Kandwal village in Kangra district. The technical team detected that an app had been used to generate a fictitious Philippines-based WhatsApp ID which had been used to send the message. The mobile phone of Bibhore Sharma was taken into possession by the police and though the message had been deleted, they were retrieved using the phone’s backup. Bibhore Sharma’s father is a serving Army officer and the boy has confessed to have sent the same message to a woman (his relative) yesterday.

The police ensured that the matter was acted upon within a couple of hours and no panic was caused. The boy, along with his parents, were called to Nalagarh where their version was put on record. The parents had been warned, added Zaidi.