Mumbai: IT firm director harassed by anonymous person who threatened to wipe out his family

The executive, who had preserved all communication he had received from the sender, approached the police. (Representational photo)

The director of an IT firm approached the police in Powai on Saturday after enduring several months of harassment at the hands of a person who has allegedly sent several threatening e-mails and letters. After ignoring the earlier messages, the harasser allegedly mailed letters to the executive’s home in which he threatened to kill his family.

The 58-year-old executive, who runs an IT firm in Navi Mumbai and lives in an apartment complex in Hiranandani, Powai, first received e-mails in April from an anonymous sender who asked for pictures showing the work the firm does. The police said the executive ignored the requests. A few days later, he received pictures showing the inside of his office and of his car parked in the building’s parking lot.

“The person who had sent the e-mail wrote a few days later to claim that he knew everything about the complainant’s life,” said an officer at Powai police station.

At the end of April, the police said, the executive was told by friends that they had found multiple accounts on Facebook bearing his name and pictures.

According to the executive’s complaint, in August in an e-mail and a letter was sent to his home, the unknown sender used abusive language for him and his wife and son. The official added that the threatening e-mail was sent using a different address, but one that bore the executive’s full name and birth year.

The police said these threats were followed up by letters sent to his home on October 24 and 30 in which the sender threatened to wipe off the executive and his family in an accident, detailing his plans over two pages.

The executive, who had preserved all communication he had received from the sender, then approached the police a few days later. The unknown person has been booked with committing defamation and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code and with identity theft under the Information Technology Act, the police said.

The official added that the IP addresses using which the e-mails were sent are being searched and inquiries are being made with the executive’s family, friends, colleagues and employees for leads. N D Reddy, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone X, said no arrests have been made so far.