Cyber threat source still untraceable, school exams stalled for two months

AHMEDABAD: “I want NO exams, if you do conduct, I will ruin the reputation of all,” warned three threat letters issued to the management of Anand Niketan School in Satellite on September 9 after the school declared the schedule of first term exams for Class VIII-XII. The culprit has warned that he would upload morphed pictures of six schoolgirls if the school dared to take exam.

A police complaint was filed on September 9, which got converted into an FIR on October 3. However, the culprit has not been nabbed even as fear of his threat continues to hold the future of 180 students of the school to ransom.

The stalemate over the exams and lack of action against the accused who threatened to smear the reputation of the school students, is testing the patience of parents. Some parents reached out to TOI complaining that the police are failing to do their job, while the school treads the safe path by giving in to the threats and avoiding possible embarrassment to its students or the institution.
“We have spent sleepless nights over the possibility of a criminal uploading morphed pictures of girl students any time. It is beyond my understanding that why the cyber cell that resolves cases of politicians and celebrities in hours, has failed miserably in cracking this case,” said Gaurav Chowdhry, a parent.
The police have been investigating the matter for three weeks now with no success whatsoever. Cops confiscated gadgets of more than 20 students, mostly from Class X and XI as the second mail arrived in the school's inbox when exams of Class X and XI were announced. However, the school managed to conduct exams of Class XII without any trouble.
Director of Anand Niketan Group of Schools, Nashy Chauhan, told TOI: “ We had complained about the matter to the police and the FIR has been filed. The police are investigating the matter and we are extending all possible support.”
When quizzed about possible exam schedule, Chauhan said, “We will decide it only after taking all stakeholders into confidence.”
PARENTS CRY FOUL
“It is saddening and shocking that cyber cell has failed to resolve the case and the culprit is free to take advantage. I am worried that if the case is not resolved, then more schools may be targeted like this. Our daughters are not safe in the state which claims to be the safest state in the country for women.”
Rajat Sogani , parent
“It is surprising that the culprit is at large after so many days of filing the complaint. This long period of inaction is worrying and if the culprit is not caught, he will have the confidence to play this game at his own whim."
Parag Mohata, parent
CYBER COPS CAUGHT IN THE DARK WEB!
Sarfarazuddin.Shaikh
Ahmedabad: Amit Vasava- deputy commissioner of police, said, “Probe is going on. The mails were sent through the ‘dark web.’ We don’t know how much time it will take to crack the case but we hope to make progress.”
Vasava said that cyber cell officials have written to the service providers. “Some devices such as computers and some phones have been seized, but we can’t give the time-frame in which the case would be detected,” said Vasava.
PHOTO QUOTE
“If we don’t get any leads, it can take a long time to crack the case as mails were sent using the `dark web'.” Amit Vasava, DCP, Ahmedabad cyber cell.
WHAT IS DARK WEB
The dark web is a decentralized network of internet sites that try to make users as anonymous as possible by routing all their communications through multiple servers and encrypting it at every step.