UPSC aspirant arrested over Pak terror hoax call

New Delhi: A 23-year-old UPSC aspirant was arrested in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly orchestrating a prank call to his former roommate in Mukherjee Nagar here, falsely claiming that a Pakistan-based terror organisation was planning blasts in the national capital, police said on Friday.

Police identified the accused as Suraj Verma, originally from Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh. “He used a landline phone installed at a relative’s house in Kanpur and modulated his voice to make the call appear as if it was coming from someone associated with a cross-border terror organisation,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Akansha Yadav said.

She claimed police cracked the case within 48 hours through technical surveillance and coordination with the Uttar Pradesh Police. According to police, officials received a PCR call at the Mukherjee Nagar police station on the night of October 27 after a resident of Indra Vikas Colony reported receiving a threatening phone call.

The complainant, Suman Kumar, a native of Bihar’s Madhepura, was preparing for the civil services examination and was staying in the locality with his roommate Rohit Kumar, the statement said.

During the call, the caller allegedly claimed that an organisation operating from Lahore had been monitoring the two students and selected them to carry out bomb blasts in Delhi. When Suman claimed that his father was a Cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh, the caller allegedly made derogatory political remarks before disconnecting. The students subsequently alerted police through the emergency helpline.

Police registered an FIR at Mukherjee Nagar police station on October 29. Given the sensitive nature of the threat, senior officers formed a dedicated team to trace the caller. Investigators analysed telecommunication records and digital data, which helped identify the landline number used to make the call from Kanpur.

A police team travelled to Kanpur and, with assistance from local police, raided the identified location and arrested Verma.

During interrogation, police found that the accused had previously lived in the same accommodation in Indra Vikas Colony as the complainant and his roommate. Investigators said Verma allegedly made the call as a prank targeting his former roommate.

To conceal his identity, he used a landline belonging to a relative and deliberately altered his voice to create the impression of a cross-border terror threat. Police said the alleged links with Lahore and the threat of bomb blasts were entirely fabricated.

Further investigation into the incident is underway, the DCP said.

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