Kolkata, February 26 – The official Instagram account of West Bengal's popular public grievance service, 'Sorasori Mukhyomantri', has been hacked, according to sources in the Bidhannagar Police on Thursday.
Following this, an alert has been issued within the state administration. After the incident came to light, a written complaint was filed with the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station. An investigation has been started.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched the 'Sorasori Mukhyomantri' service to listen to the grievances of citizens from different parts of West Bengal. A page called 'Sorasori Mukhyomantri' was also opened on Instagram.
During the investigation, the police have learned that the hackers also sent 47 unauthorized messages directly using that Instagram account. Two stories were also uploaded on Instagram.
According to police sources, the account was hacked late on Wednesday night. The complainant told the police that multiple unauthorized messages were sent from 2:06 am to 2:19 am on Wednesday. Later, a second batch of messages was sent between 9:11 am and 9:22 am. In total, 47 unauthorized direct messages were sent.
Not only that, the hackers also sent messages to the official accounts of 'Egiye Bangla', 'Kolkata Police', and 'West Bengal Police' using that account.
The complainant told the police that there are several rules for using that Instagram account. This account can be opened with three authorized devices - a government mobile phone, a specific laptop, and an office desktop. But as soon as the news of the hack spread, the account password was quickly changed, and electronic records, screenshots, and time stamps were saved.
According to police sources, an investigation has been started to identify the culprits by preserving digital evidence.
Investigators are analysing IP addresses and login histories. However, no arrests have been made so far.
Based on digital evidence, the police hope to quickly identify the accused.
The administration has said that in the future, the security of government social media accounts will be further strengthened to prevent such incidents from happening again.