In a shocking development, a seasoned IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Mr. Manish Shankar Sharma (1992 batch), found his name dragged in a criminal conspiracy when he discovered that his identity had become a tool for the Cyber fraudsters to intimidate people by threatening to lodge bogus cases against their names. The miscreants used to dial unsuspecting civilians and falsely claim that their child had been kidnapped or was complicit in a crime — then, they (cybercrooks) would extort a ransom or bribe, suggesting that they would “settle” the fictitious case.

The cybercriminals used Mr. Sharma’s images as their profile picture while making fraud calls via WhatsApp to prove their “authenticity,” and the numbers used for making the calls were Nepal and Pakistan-based. Since Mr. Sharma is a well-known police officer his pictures were widely available on the internet — using which the criminals made their con appear legitimate.

ADGP Manish Sharma is a widely celebrated IPS officer who recieved many coveted accolades like the United Nations Peace Medal, and recognition from the governments of the US, Bosnia and Herzegovina. On July 20th, 2020, the authorities in San Diego (California) recognised his efforts in enhancing Indo-US relations by recognising the day as “Manish Sharma Day.”

Officer Sharma has other prestigious accolades like “The Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition” (from the US House of Representatives) and “National Law Day Award 2016” (from a former President of India).