The personal email address of Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant was hacked with the attackers gaining access and remaining in control of the account for around eight hours before it was restored, police said on Saturday.
The alleged hacking took place on the night of November 19 and was recovered the following morning.
“The cyber cell of the crime branch is probing the matter. Initial investigations reveal that there has been no misuse of the account,” said an official of the Goa Police cyber cell.
While several politicians in Goa have been the victims of spurious WhatsApp and other social media accounts, this is the first instance of an account being hacked by malicious elements.
In 2022, the state’s flood monitoring system was compromised by a ransomware attack with attackers demanding cryptocurrency for restoring the account.