By: Kashmir Investigation Team
MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): In a major development, the Muzaffarabad Sadar Police Station has apprehended two accused involved in a cybercrime gang that lured and blackmailed girls in Azad Kashmir.
While talking to the Kashmir Investigation team the Muzaffarabad Sadar Police Station Investigation Officer Muhammad Ashiq stated that the gang had been using a live streaming and gaming app to trap young girls, initially luring them with rewards in-game that could be cashed out as dollars.
According to the Investigation Officer, once the victims fall into their trap, the gang would extract the personal details of the girls, hack their WhatsApp accounts, and blackmail them.
Two women residents of Muzaffarabad, who were among the victims of this dangerous gang were going through severe psychological trauma and were even thinking of committing suicide, the officer revealed.
The Investigation officer further revealed that these girls had applied for the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) about four months ago but their applications were rejected after which they contacted the officers.
Police officer Muhammad Ashiq also said that there is a whole group behind these accused. He explained that we had their mobile phones, but someone deleted all the data from their phones through Gmail ID, and the accounts were logged out.
He said that the mobile would be sent for forensics to find out how many other women have been victims of this heinous crime.
However, due to the absence of a Cybercrime Act in Azad Kashmir, the police are taking action under sections 489Y, 489S, 419, and 420 of the Social Media Act.
Moreover, SHO Wajahat Kazmi warned the public to exercise caution when joining apps or links, emphasizing that such crimes are on the rise.
The SHO said that sections related to cheating and cybercrime have been imposed against these accused. He said that one of these accused was posing as an employee of an organization, on whom section 171 has been imposed.
Wajahat Kazmi further said that these accused were trapped and arrested through technical assistance. He said that the accused were very smart and they were tracked by taking the CDR of their mobile and then arrested.
