Man hacks Puneet Isaar’s email id, tries to siphon ₹13.7 lakh; arrested

Mumbai: A person employed by actor Puneet Issar, on Friday, was arrested for allegedly hacking his email account and trying to misappropriate ₹13

Mumbai: A person employed by actor Puneet Issar, on Friday, was arrested for allegedly hacking his email account and trying to misappropriate ₹13.76 lakh by impersonating him.

Man hacks Puneet Isaar’s email id, tries to siphon ₹13.7 lakh; arrested

The accused, identified as Abhishek Narayan, 34, was arrested from his residence in Madh.

According to the police, the incident came to light on Tuesday when Issar realized that his email account was hacked. He then approached the police to report the incident.

“He was trying to open his email account so that he could write to the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) regarding a booking he had made,” said Manohar Dhanawade, senior police inspector, at Oshiwara police station.

“We asked him if he had paid any money for the booking and when he replied in the affirmative, we immediately called up the NCPA management,” he added.

True to the police’s fears, the NCPA had received an email from Issar’s account, asking them to cancel his booking and refund the ₹13.76 lakh that he had paid. The sender had also specified a bank account to which the money was to be refunded.

“Narayan used to handle bookings for Issar and hence he knew exactly who to contact for the cancellation. We have charged him with cheating and impersonation under the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act,” said Dhanawade.

The police first told the NCPA authorities not to send any money and then obtained details of the bank account mentioned in the email. Using the mobile number that was linked to the bank account, the police obtained its cellular location and zeroed in on the suspect.