By Sahar Khan
Raipur: In a sophisticated cybercrime incident, online fraudsters hacked the WhatsApp account of Dr Salim Raj, Chairman of the Chhattisgarh State Waqf Board, and used his identity to swindle ₹7.72 lakh from his close associates and contacts. The Raipur Cyber Cell has registered an FIR and launched a full-scale investigation to track down the perpetrators.
According to police sources, after successfully compromising Dr. Salim Raj’s WhatsApp account, the cyber criminals gained access to his contact list containing approximately 12,000 numbers. The hackers then blasted desperate mass messages to these contacts, claiming an urgent financial emergency.
The fraudulent messages asserted that Dr. Raj’s UPI application was temporarily malfunctioning and requested immediate online transfers of ₹56,000, promising to return the money quickly.
Given Dr. Salim Raj’s official position, several recipients believed the authenticity of the message and rushed to help. Initial police investigations reveal that at least 12 individuals transferred ₹56,000 each into the accounts provided by the fraudsters. Furthermore, a close friend of Dr. Raj residing in Bilaspur fell prey to the scam and transferred ₹1 lakh, bringing the total defrauded amount to ₹7,72,000.
The scam unravelled when a few alert contacts directly called Dr. Raj to confirm if he had received the funds, only for the Chairman to realise he had been locked out of his account and that his identity was being weaponised.
Following an official complaint, the Raipur Cyber Cell immediately took over the case. Cyber security experts are currently analysing technical evidence, tracing the digital footprints of the hackers, and scrutinising the specific bank accounts and UPI IDs where the stolen money was funnelled.
