Bengaluru, Nov 12 (PTI) In a major breakthrough, the city police have arrested a cybercriminal from Bihar, who allegedly hacked the mobile phones of Sandalwood actor Upendra and his wife, actress Priyanka Upendra, and cheated several people by impersonating them on WhatsApp, police said.
The accused, Vikas Kumar, was brought to Bengaluru after being traced to Dashrathpur village in Bihar.
“There was a cyber crime case reported in Central division. Our officers cracked the case on time and amount is also being recovered. The complainant had reported the matter during the ‘golden hour’, which helped us recover the money,” Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told reporters.
According to him, the fraudsters had adopted a new modus operandi, where they provided the information they had asked for such as details of the mobile phone.
“We request people not to get trapped and in case, they get caught, then they should immediately inform police, which will help us to detect the case,” the Police Commissioner said.
He added that the actor and his family had lost Rs 1.5 lakh. Since there are many people involved in this case, recovery of money is not easy.
Police sources said the incident took place on September 15, when Priyanka Upendra, who had ordered some items online, received a suspicious link on her mobile phone. Believing it to be genuine, she clicked on it, allowing hackers to gain remote access to her WhatsApp account.
Soon after, several of her contacts began receiving fraudulent messages, requesting an urgent transfer of Rs 55,000, supposedly for an emergency.
Unaware of the fraud, a few acquaintances, including the couple’s own son, transferred money to the account details mentioned in the messages.
When some of them tried calling Priyanka to confirm, their calls were abruptly disconnected—further deepening the deception. Within a short span, the fraudsters had managed to siphon off nearly Rs 1.5 lakh.
Realising something was wrong, Priyanka immediately informed her husband and their manager. However, by then, both of their phones had also been compromised by the same hackers.
The couple then approached the Sadashivanagar Police Station, where a formal complaint was lodged.
The police launched a coordinated investigation along with the Central Division Cyber Crime Unit, tracking digital footprints to Bihar.
Their probe revealed that the hackers belonged to Dashrathpur village, notorious for cyber scams, where dozens of young men aged between 20 and 25 are reportedly engaged in online fraud.
Officers who visited the area were shocked to discover that around 150 youths from the village were actively involved in similar crimes targeting victims across the country.
Based on the technical evidence and surveillance inputs, the team zeroed in on Vikas Kumar, who was subsequently arrested and brought to Bengaluru for questioning.
He is currently under police custody, and further investigation is underway to identify his associates and their network behind the cyber fraud.
Speaking to reporters, Upendra said since they had reported the matter within an hour of the incident, the entire network of fraudster was busted. PTI GMS GMS KH
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