In a major cybercrime breakthrough, Bengaluru police have arrested a 30-year-old man from Nalanda district in Bihar, which has recently emerged as a new hotspot for cyber fraud. The accused, Vikas Kumar, was apprehended on November 6 for allegedly hacking the WhatsApp accounts of Kannada actor Upendra, his wife Priyanka, and their manager, before using them to extort money from their contacts.
Cybercrime trail leads to Bihar’s ‘new Jamtara’
Police sources revealed that nearly 200 youngsters in Nalanda are actively involved in cybercrime operations, mirroring the notorious cyber hub of Jamtara in Jharkhand.
A Bengaluru police team camped in Delhi for 15 days before tracking down and arresting Vikas Kumar, who is believed to be part of a larger syndicate that contacts victims under the guise of courier executives, hacks their phones, and seeks money from their acquaintances.
“We have identified several associates of the accused, and efforts are on to nab them,” a senior police officer said.
How the hacking unfolded
The cybercrime came to light when Upendra and his wife Priyanka approached the Sadashivanagar police station in September, after discovering that their WhatsApp accounts had been hacked and fraudsters had siphoned off ₹1.65 lakh by messaging their contacts for money.
According to the police, Priyanka had ordered household items from a Dubai-based online platform. On September 15, she received a call from a person posing as a delivery executive who claimed that her address could not be traced.
The caller convinced her to dial a specific code — 219279295167# — to “verify” her address. Unaware that this would activate call forwarding, Priyanka dialled the code, unknowingly giving hackers access to her phone.
When her device appeared to hang, she tried the same code on Upendra’s and their manager Mahadeva’s phones, inadvertently compromising both as well.
All three phones were then forwarded to the fraudster’s number, allowing the hackers to install WhatsApp on those numbers and impersonate them.
Fraudulent messages and money transfers
Once the hackers gained control, they began messaging the couple’s contacts with distress messages such as:
“Hi, needed some help pls.”
When recipients responded, the fraudsters followed up with:
“There will be 55k in your account now? I will return in just 2 hrs. My UPI is not working properly. It’s very urgent now.”
Several contacts, including the couple’s son and his friends, fell for the scam and transferred money to the fraudsters’ accounts.
Actors thank police for swift action
Following the arrest, Upendra met Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh on Wednesday to express gratitude for the swift action.
Police confirmed that the accused has confessed to his role in the hacking and is cooperating with the investigation. Authorities are also probing links between the Nalanda network and other interstate cybercrime modules.
A growing cybercrime hub
Cybercrime experts have warned that Bihar’s Nalanda is fast becoming India’s new cybercrime hotspot, with hundreds of youths engaging in digital fraud targeting victims across states. The latest case underscores the evolving tactics of cyber syndicates that blend social engineering with technical manipulation.
Authorities have urged citizens to avoid dialling unknown codes or sharing OTPs, as such actions can compromise device security and enable remote access.