4 held over fake KPCC website, 1 gives cops the slip

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Cybercrime police on Saturday ar rested four persons over the fake KPCC website case.

The arrests followed complaints from the Karnataka Congress, as there was a cybertargeting of the party leaders and digital assets by hacking, spoofing and fake letters, in the run-up to the Assembly polls held recently.

While the cops arrested three, they are also on the lookout for Shashank Bharadwaj, who works with Varahe Analytics in connection with the case. Interestingly, Varahe was the political strategy firm that worked for the BJP in the assembly election.

According to the police, the accused have been booked under sections 66 (c) and 66 (D) of the Act and IPC sections 505.

The investigations revealed that companies named Vet Fab Technologies Private Limited, in Hassan, which also has a branch in Bengaluru, created the fake website and uploaded content with the intent to create or promote and disseminate inaccurate content.

A police statement also revealed that one Dharmesh Jain and Arun made payment for hosting, while Siddharth and Employee Venkatesh developed webpages and fake email IDs.

The BCP officers conducted raids on the company and secured three directors and one employee, seized three mobile, one laptop, credit cards, and documents containing incriminating information.

“In this case, Shashank Bharadwaj, a native of Hassan and a common friend of the accused director working in Varahe Analytical company (Electoral Campaign Management) had approached and got this fake website made. He paid Rs 25,000 and took commission”, read the statement.

Further, the investigations also revealed that Shashank spoke to the company directors and his friends who made the website and asked them to delete it upon coming to know after hosting.

“There are discussions and chats on WhatsApp in this regard”, says the statement. Efforts are on to capture Shashank.