Youth arrested for sending threat emails to Delhi, B’luru police chiefs

A personal rivalry over an online interaction with a girl was the motive behind a sprawling cyber harassment campaign that escalated into terror-linked threat emails sent to top police officials in Delhi and Bengaluru, officials said on Tuesday.

The police arrested the accused, identified as Abhay Shee (22), a native of Jamshedpur. He is currently pursuing BCA.

On December 7, the Delhi Police received a threatening message on the official email ID of the Delhi Police Commissioner from an address crafted to resemble that of a Gurugram resident, Mohit.

The accused allegedly targeted Mohit after a personal dispute involving a woman known to both.

The email was also marked to another suspicious ID and falsely claimed links with a banned organisation, along with an extortion demand using Mohit’s phone number, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Harsh Indora said.

Investigators soon discovered that a similar threat email was sent on November 30 to the Police Commissioner of Bengaluru, again from a spoofed account created to look like Mohit’s.

Around the same time, Mohit had been facing persistent harassment international spam calls, fake QR codes, threatening emails and multiple fabricated cyber complaints of rape and murder filed in his name. These actions appeared designed to frame him and draw police attention toward him as a suspect, the cop said.

Acting on this lead, the team apprehended Abhay from Saidulajab in South Delhi. During questioning, he confessed to launching the cyber harassment campaign due to a personal dispute linked to the girl, the DCP said.

The police said he created multiple email IDs mimicking Mohit’s identity, used VPNs and spoofing tools, and sent the threatening messages to the police commissioners of both cities.

He also used a virtual international number to send a similar message to a PCR unit in Rajasthan, again claiming links to an international banned organisation and issuing bomb threats.

Abhay is further accused of filing several fake cyber complaints using Mohit’s personal details. The mobile phone used in the offences has been recovered, and investigators found that a significant amount of data had been deleted. Forensic efforts to retrieve the erased information are underway, Indora mentioned.

A native of Jamshedpur and currently a BCA sixth-semester student, Abhay had been freelancing as a web developer at the time of the offence. The police said he intended to harass, defame and “teach a lesson” to Mohit through anonymous threats and false accusations. He has been arrested under relevant sections, and the Crime Branch is continuing its investigation, the cop mentioned.