A school student in the north Tapin area of Charhi, Hazaribagh, clicked a link whiel taking online classes, resulting in the loss of Rs 2.12 lakh from his father’s bank account on Sunday.

Shankar Mehta said he gave his phone to his son when he requested it for his classes, following which he left for the market and came home an hour later to find ten messages from SBI confirming a debit of Rs 2.12 lakh.

On inquiring, the boy admitted getting a call, following which he clicked a link to send the OTP. Mehta said he was not sure as to how the money was withdrawn as he uses platforms like Paytm, Phone Pay and Google Pay.

“Out of fear, my son is not giving the details,” he said adding that his hard-earned money was gone but hoped police will reach to the culprits soon.

However, Mehta, who is a CCL (Central Coalfields Limited) employee, found it tough to get his FIR lodged initially as Charhi and Ghato police both claimed that the area did not come in either of their jurisdictions.

Hazaribagh SP Karthik S had to ask Charhi police to take his case, following which the FIR lodged.

Police officials said have issued advisory related to cyber frauds repeatedly, and that cyber criminals are changing their techniques frequently to cheat people.

In a similar case, teachers of Chatra district started getting phone calls and being asked for information, claiming that the education department has launched this verification drive. Two days back, Chatra education department officials alerted teachers and said no such drive exists.

Officials said it is important for parents to sit with children during online classes so that they cannot attend call from strangers or click suspicious links.

DC Bokaro, Mukesh Kumar Telegraph picture

State govt bans pan masala, distributers to remove stock by June 10

Bokaro deputy commissioner Mukesh Kumar on Monday instructed all the distributors and wholesalers of chewing tobacco to remove their stock by June 10, or face legal action.

Jharkhand government issued a notification and banned 11 brands of tobacco, including Shikhar, Rajnigandha, Dilruba, Raj Niwas, Musafir, Madhu, Vimal, Bahar, Shehrat and Pan Parag.

“Pan Masala brands containing magnesium carbonate are banned for the next year in all of Jharkhand. Their production, storage, wholesale and retailing are banned in the state; their distributors, wholesalers and retailers should remove them from the shop or warehouse,” said Kumar.

He has instructed stockists to provide the updated list of their stock within five days to sub-divisional officers. With effect from June 11, storage and transportation of the products will be considered illegal, and the SDO will take necessary action.

Any person found consuming or spitting tobacco in public places, they will face legal action.