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Journalism of Courage
A 17-year-old boy died allegedly by suicide in Mumbai earlier this year after realising that he had been duped of Rs 49,000 by cyber fraudsters. The Government Railway Police (GRP) initially registered an accidental death report in the matter. They filed an FIR against eight people Monday after information from the boy’s repaired phone revealed their alleged role.
As per the FIR, the GRP received information about the boy’s death in Jogeshwari on January 21. His father told the police that after his son had passed his Class 12 exams, he had gifted the boy a phone that was damaged in an accident before his death.
After the phone was repaired and turned over to the police, they found that the boy had been in contact with some people on WhatsApp. These people allegedly told him that they would assign tasks such as providing ratings for various services on Google, for which he would receive payment, a mode of cyber cheating known as task fraud.
Not knowing it was a fraud, the boy continued completing the tasks and was initially paid, said the police. Later, when he asked for payment, the accused allegedly said he would need to pay Rs 49,000 to get the amount due to him. While he made the payment, the fraudsters did not return any money and kept asking for more money, leading him to suicide, said the police.
After a technical analysis of his phone, the police registered the FIR against the cyber fraudsters who allegedly chatted with him on various social media platforms.
In July this year, another youth died by suicide after cyber fraudsters allegedly defrauded him of lakhs of rupees. In that case, the Kurla GRP registered an FIR after investigation.
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