Prankster behind terror mail to four IAS officers?

Cyber Crime sleuths ascertain that mail originated from South Africa. However, hand of junior officers settling scores with seniors not ruled out

Threatening e-mails from the alleged chief of a terrorist group to four IAS officers had created a stir in July and Cyber Crime sleuths have traced its origin to South Africa. The author of the mail stated that a few IAS officers, who were allegedly being shadowed by terrorist hit men, would be eliminated within 48 hours.


2 days to go: The author of the mail stated that a few IAS officers,
who were allegedly being shadowed by terrorist hit men, would be
eliminated within 48 hours. Representation Pic

Sanjiv Kumar, principal secretary, planning, programming and monitoring department, is one such officer who received the mail, and has filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime police. Apart from him and two others, C Ashok Kumar Manoli, principal secretary to Government, Information Technology & Bio Technology, Science & Technology, also received the mail and filed a complaint with the home department.

Manoli received the mail on his personal ID from Mahdi-Al-Khalaf, who claimed to be the chief of a terror group. Khalaf further claimed in the mail that a close friend of Manoli's had asked for him to be eliminated. The author also claimed that after a thorough investigation, he came to know that Manoli was innocent.

Shadow agents
"My agent is shadowing you and is prepared to execute you," the e-mail claimed. The alleged terror-group chief further claimed that he was aware of his every move and that the threat should be taken seriously. In addition, the chief also demanded an answer to the mail within 48 hours, failing which the officer would be killed. The signature at the end of the mail 'Allaho U Akbar' led the recipients to approach the cyber cops for investigations.

"Though the mail was received by four officials on July 29, there have been no further developments," an unnamed senior officer informed. Officials believe that a prankster, who had ID details of the recipients, sent the mail and the signature style was meant to cause panic. Meanwhile, the official investigating the case ascertained that the Email was generated from South Africa and believe that a proxy server was used while sending it to the recipients.