Thane Police website hacked over Prophet remarks controversy restored
The hackers claimed to be supporters of an Islamic group. Following the hacking, a message popped up on the website, allegedly from the hackers in which they demanded an immediate apology to “Muslims all over the world”.
The official website of the Thane City Police that was hacked earlier in the day has now been restored, the deputy commissioner of police (DCP), cyber cell, said.
The senior officer Sunil Lokhande said technical experts have recovered the data and the website has been restored.
Lokhande added the hacking happened around 4am on Tuesday, and a probe in the regard was conducted by the cyber team of the Thane City Police. “Further probe [is] underway,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, additional director general of police (ADG) of Maharashtra Cyber Cell, Madhukar Pandey, said that owing to the current communal tension in the country over the Prophet remark controversy, “many hackers have united and hacked websites”.
“Names of two countries Malaysia and Indonesia are surfacing. We have not got any information about whether this gang is operating in India or not,” he was quoted as saying.
Pandey said that the cyber cell team of Maharashtra Police has restored several websites, with many more yet to be done. “More than 70 websites have been attacked, of which, three are government ones followed by private universities… Hacked websites are more than 500,” he added.
The ADG's update comes after the Maharashtra home department said earlier in the day that the cyber cell has ordered restoration of all hacked state government websites along with an enquiry into the hacking.
The hackers of Thane City Police's website claimed to be supporters of an Islamic group. Following the hacking, a message popped up on the website, allegedly from the hackers in which they demanded an immediate apology to “Muslims all over the world”.
“Hello Indian Government, Hello Everyone!! Again and Again you make trouble with the Islamic religion. I think you don’t understand tolerance huh? We are too lazy to treat trash like you guys. Hurry up and apologise to Muslims all over the world!! We don’t stand still when our Apostle is insulted,” the message read.
The message became an internet buzz within minutes across Thane, and police formed a team to crack the hackers' link and work on restoring the website.
The row regarding the Prophet emerged a few days ago after former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled party leader Naveen Kumar Jindal made inflammatory comments. India has been facing severe backlash from many Islamic nations over the comments, besides some violent protests in the country.