Two men, one of them from Kalighat, have been arrested for allegedly helping an NGO worker in Pakistan open a WhatsApp account against an Indian SIM card.
According to Bengal Special Task Force (STF) sources, Mukesh Rajak and Rakesh Kumar Gupta were arrested in Burdwan on Sunday and remanded to police custody.
Gupta was admitted to a hospital in Burdwan on June 30. The STF went to the hospital on July 3, and waited for his discharge before arresting him.
Gupta is a resident of Calcutta’s Priyanath Mullick Road, while Rajak is from Panagarh in Burdwan. Both stayed at a rented apartment in Memari.
“According to neighbours several people used to come to meet them in the apartment,” an officer said.
“They have been charged under sections of the Indian Telegraph Act, the Wireless Telegraphy Act and the Foreigners Act,” said an officer.
The primary charge against them is helping a man in Pakistan activate a WhatsApp account against an Indian SIM card.
“This means anyone sitting in Pakistan can use the number to send WhatsApp messages and make calls, giving the impression that they are being sent from India,” said the officer.
A WhatsApp account can be activated on any phone, even without a SIM card.
“To activate a WhatsApp account, the app needs a mobile number. Once the number is provided, an OTP is generated and sent to the number. The WhatsApp account gets activated after one inputs the OTP. The operator needs only the mobile number and the OTP to start the account. This is what happened in this case, an officer said.
The two men who were allegedly in possession of an Indian SIM card shared the OTP with a man in Pakistan, where he activated a WhatsApp account, he said.
According to STP sources, the duo met their Pakistani handler on a social media
platform around six
months ago.
“The accused were found to have been involved in the work of indoctrination. This is a sensitive matter and is under investigation. We are also scanning their financial transactions in the past year,” said an officer.
The charges under which they have been booked deal with regulations related to the possession of wireless telegraphy apparatus.
“The Indian Telegraph Act provides the legal framework for regulating telegraphs and wireless communication in India, ensuring the government’s control over this vital infrastructure,” the officer explained.
