Noida data theft: Call centre employee claims cop assaulted him, slapped fake case

The engineer was identified as Shahabuddin, a resident of Ghaziabad. According to him, he had joined the company in 2018.

A software engineer employed with a call centre in Sector 65 has alleged that he was assaulted by a sub-inspector of the cyber cell and that the policeman had forced him to own up to false data theft charges.

A software engineer employed with a call centre in Sector 65 has alleged that he was assaulted by a sub-inspector of the cyber cell and that the policeman had forced him to own up to false data theft charges. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The engineer was identified as Shahabuddin, a resident of Ghaziabad. According to him, he had joined the company in 2018.

“I got to know that the firm would pretend to be representatives of major firms and hack or plant virus on clients’ systems in other countries. Noida police was cracking down on such firms and I told my employer that I wanted to leave,” Shahabuddin claimed.

He said he was required to serve his notice period till April 18, 2019. “By then, some clients found out the support was fake and started asking for refunds. The company didn’t even pay me for April. To avoid refunding any money, they filed a false FIR at the Phase 3 police station against unidentified persons alleging that the company’s data was stolen,” the complainant said.

He said around 7.45pm, a man in his early forties came to the office and introduced himself as the SHO, cyber crime. “He questioned me regarding the data theft. He assaulted me and also threatened me with a pistol. They told me to accept that I was behind the data theft. This went on till 11pm after which they let me go and told me to return. They kept my Aadhaar card,” he said.

Shahabuddin said he was scared that he might be sent to jail in a false case and so he decided to approach senior police officers.

The incident was caught cameras and a 2-minute video was circulated on social media. Shahabuddin was seen purportedly slapped by Baljeet Singh, sub-inspector, cyber cell. The police are yet to register a case on Shahabuddin’s complaint and said the matter was being probed first.

“The victim had been accused of data theft. The policeman in question had zeroed in on him in the case and was questioning him in this regard. This seems like an effort to throw off attention from the case. However, we are investigating to see whether his claims are true. Due legal action will be taken once the matter is investigated,” senior superintendent of police Vaibhav Krishna said.