Kolkata: The official Instagram account of West Bengal’s popular public grievance service ‘Sorasori Mukhyomantri’ has been hacked, said sources in Bidhannagar Police on Thursday.
Following this, an alert has been issued within the state administration. After the incident came to light, a written complaint was filed with the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station. An investigation has been started.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a service called ‘Sorasori Mukhyomantri’ to listen to the grievances of citizens from different parts of West Bengal. A page called ‘Sorasori Mukhyomantri’ was also opened on Instagram.
It is learnt that during the investigation, the police have come to know that the hackers have also sent 47 unauthorised messages directly using that Instagram account. Two stories have also been uploaded on Instagram.
According to police sources, the account was hacked late on Wednesday night. The complainant told the police that multiple unauthorised messages were sent from 2:06 am to 2:19 am on Wednesday. Later, a second batch of messages was sent between 9:11 am and 9:22 am. In total, 47 unauthorised direct messages were sent.
Not only that, the hackers have sent messages to the official account of ‘Egiye Bangla’, ‘Kolkata Police’ and ‘West Bengal Police’ using that account.
The complainant told the police that there are several rules for using that Instagram account. This account can be opened with three authorised devices – a government mobile phone, a specific laptop and an office desktop. But as soon as the news of the hack spread, the account password was quickly changed, electronic records, screenshots and time stamps etc. were saved.
According to police sources, an investigation has been started to identify the culprits by preserving digital evidence.
Investigators are analysing IP addresses and login histories. However, no arrests have been made so far.
Based on digital evidence, the police hope to quickly identify the accused.
The administration has said that in the future, the security of government social media accounts will be further strengthened to prevent such incidents from happening again.
(IANS)
