Sonipat police’s Special Unit against Gangsters (SuaG) has recently arrested five members of an interstate gang involved in making extortion calls with the help of the Haryana Police’s ‘Abhedya’ app.

The gang, linked to gangsters Randeep Malik and Deepak Boxer, used stolen mobile phones for making VoIP calls to threaten their targets in Haryana and Delhi. Their preliminary interrogation revealed that they had plans to target six establishments across Sonipat, Panipat and Delhi. They were tracked down through Abhedya app, after they made extortion calls to one of their targets in Sonipat, said a Haryana Police officer.

Meanwhile, since its launch on March 21, close to around 200 businessmen, doctors and prominent persons in Haryana have installed the Abhedya mobile app. The app – according to the state police – prevents the subscribers from getting “unwanted extortion phone calls and messages”.

The majority of the subscribers are based in Gurugram, Faridabad, Ambala, Sonipat, Panipat, Rohtak, Hisar, Hansi, and Bhiwani.

Diler Singh, a Loharu-based businessman who installed this app last week, said, “It has been six days, since I downloaded this mobile app. So far, I have not received any mischievous phone call. Earlier, I had received a few from random international phone numbers. I am having a peaceful sleep these days.”

A Bhiwani-based businessman, Virender, who had lodged complaint with the police for receiving extortion-related messages, said, “These extortion messages had caused immense trauma to me and my family members. After installing this app, I have not received any such messages for the last one week.”

Two prominent business partners of Panipat also installed this app. “It looks like we can now sleep in peace. Ever since, we have downloaded this app, we have not received any extortion phone call/ message. It is a good initiative of the Haryana Police. This app blocks unwanted international calls or calls/ messages using VoIP, but we have even requested our district police chief that they should also develop some other application that can completely block even direct mobile phone calls,” one of the two businessmen said.

Police speak

Explaining the functioning of this app, Haryana Director General of Police Ajay Singhal said, “The [phone] calls originating within the country are relatively easier to trace, while calls from multiple foreign numbers pose a significant challenge. This app is proving to be effective to tackle this. The feedback received from across the districts of Haryana show a reduction of around 40-50 per cent of such extortion calls. Not only extortion calls, but this app will also help establish an effective control over digital fraud and cybercrime related calls.”

“The Abhedya app identifies calls and messages from unknown and suspicious numbers, blocks them before they reach the user and specifically monitors international, virtual and unsaved numbers for the subscriber. It automatically rejects calls and blocks numbers if found suspicious. The app also deletes suspicious chats, voice messages, notifications and voice notes from the mobile device, ensuring that the subscriber remains free from any mental stress or fear. Also, the suspicious calls coming from abroad are also being monitored through the app. Since, the app is also monitored by the Haryana Police’s cyber wings and technical experts, such unscrupulous callers are also tracked through back-end systems,” a senior Haryana Police officer explained.

Asked how the app’s misuse can be prevented, an officer stated that “the app’s access can only be authorised by an officer above the rank of a district police chief [a Superintendent of Police]. The person intending to download this app will first have to approach the district SP who can only authorise download of the app on the person’s device.”

Giving further lowdown on how the app functions, the officer added, “The app blocks all kinds of communication from international numbers, including virtual numbers and force criminals to use Indian numbers, which can be traced and tracked by law enforcement agencies.”

Updates loading

The Haryana Police are also coming out with another update of this app through which not only internet-based fraud calls but also regular calls can be controlled. “It includes features to block unknown international calls, suspicious domestic calls (as per user preference), and private or hidden numbers, while allowing calls only from saved and verified numbers,” a senior officer explained.