FB, Instagram accounts of Jhargov TV hacked from European server, Ranchi cyber branch seeks report from Meta

The Facebook and Instagram accounts of 'Jhargov' were hacked from a server based in Lithuania. The cyber crime branch has written a letter to Meta seeking a report in this connection. It will take around 21 days for the report to come following which, necessary action will be taken, police said.

Ranchi:The cyber crime branch of Ranchi has sought a report from Meta after the social media accounts of Jharkhand government's authorised broadcasting channel 'Jhargov TV' were hacked and obscene pictures and videos were constantly posted here. It has been revealed that the accounts were hacked from a server in Europe's Lithuania.

After recovering the password and user name of the Facebook and Instagram accounts of 'Jhargov TV', the cyber team of Ranchi initiated an investigation into the matter. According to cyber crime officials, it takes 21 days for the report to come from Meta and further investigations can be initiated only after going through it.

After the matter came to light, an FIR was lodged at Gonda police station in Ranchi on Tuesday. Ranchi SSP Chandan Kumar Sinha said that a case has been filed and probe is underway. Action will be taken after we go through Meta's report, he said.

This is not for the first time that an account was hacked by a foreign server. Earlier, chief minister Hemant Soren had received threat mails and while investigating into those, the cyber police found that the servers from where those mails were sent were in foreign countries. Soren received threat mails thrice and separate FIRs were lodged every time at the cyber police station of Ranchi.

The first threat mail was sent on July 8, 2020 wherein the hacker threatened to blow up Jharkhand secretariat. After which, two more threat calls were received by the chief minister. Investigations revealed that the mails were sent from servers located in Germany and Switzerland.