Bengal teen arrested for hacking Facebook account of former HC judge

Kolkata: An 18-year-old student in Basirhat sub-division of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district has been arrested on charges of hacking the Facebook account of Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan (retired), a former Chief Justice of the Telangana and Uttarakhand High Courts, police said on Thursday.

Rajibul Mistri, a Class 12 student, was arrested by a joint police team from the local Matia police station and Mallital police station from Uttarakhand’s Nainital. He was produced at a local court, which had approved the Mallital police team to take the accused to Uttarakhand in transit remand.

The Facebook account of Justice Chauhan (retired) was hacked first in May 2022. However, much importance was not given to that then. However, on July 18, the same Facebook account was hacked again and this time, some provocative messages were spread through that hacked account.

An FIR was filed at the Mallital police station in Nainital and an investigation started. Accordingly, the investigating team came to know that the Facebook account of the retired Chief Justice was hacked from a mobile phone, which was registered under the name of Mistri.

A team of four policemen from Mallital police station, lead by sub-inspector Deepak Bisht reached Matia and contacted the local police. Thereafter the joint team arrested Mistri.

In face of interrogation, Mistri admitted that he was responsible for hacking the Facebook account of the former chief justice twice. However, he added that he did not have any mal-intention behind this hacking and played the role of an ethical hacker. His mother also claimed that her son was innocent and fiddling with his mobile phone was his habit.

Mistri hails from a financially backward family and his father earns his livelihood by running a roadside snacks shop.