These calls were received over WhatsApp and mostly had foreign numbers such as Poland and Pakistan. The person who called allegedly identified himself as a police officer, and conversed in Hindi.
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Mangaluru: After a few parents received calls claiming that their children have been arrested and demanded money for their release, the city police has registered a case.
Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal said that CEN police are currently investigating the case. He said on June 11 and 12 a few threatening calls were received by a some parents whose children were studying in various schools/institutions in Mangaluru city .
These calls were received over WhatsApp and mostly had foreign numbers such as Poland and Pakistan. The person who called allegedly identified himself as a police officer, and conversed in Hindi.
The commissioner said that the caller allegedly told the parents that their son or daughter were arrested in a criminal case and demanded money to release them.
On immediate verification, it was found that the calls were fake and students were safely in their schools/ institutions. The calls were made during school hours and aimed to threaten and extort money from parents, the Commissioner said.
The Commissioner of Police advised all parents and institutions not to panic and said they should avoid receiving any calls on WhatsApp from unknown foreign numbers.
If anyone gets such calls, they should immediately inform the nearest police station to register a case.
It is alleged that soon after parents received calls, a few panic stricken parents approached schools/institutions to verify. A few parents were told by the callers that their children were involved in rape and kidnap cases and the officer would help in protecting their children for which parents were asked to pay a ransom amount.
A parent even received a call that their child was kidnapped. Sources said most of them who received calls were parents of students studying in I PU. It is suspected that student's data was leaked.