Tamil Nadu-based computer programmer lands in trouble as bots developed by him used in 'terror plots'

BHOPAL: Craving to become a successful computer programmer has landed a Tamil Nadu based 17-year-old Class XII student in trouble.

The Salem-based student who aspires of having his own successful startup venture, recently sold Bot software programmes to a foreigner over the instant messaging app Telegram for 200 US Dollars.

The Bots (software program that performs automated, repetitive and pre-defined tasks) was developed by the teenager for the overseas client to operate multiple e-mail IDs.

While the Tamil Nadu teenager was relishing at the receiving the payment in Bitcoin, little did he know that the overseas individual for who he developed the Bots was going to land him in deep trouble.

The Bots developed for operating multiple e-mail IDs were actually used by the unidentified user to send e-mail to top schools in Bengaluru in April and later to 11 prominent schools in Bhopal on May 13, alerting about the presence of powerful bombs in the concerned schools.

"While the e-mails sent to schools in Bengaluru and Bhopal turned out to be hoax, it kept entire bomb detection and disposal squads (BDDS) teams busy for hours. Subsequent probe by our teams revealed that the IP address of a Salem resident boy was the genesis of the mails. Our team managed to trace the teenager in two days, just a day after the Bengaluru police, located him after around month long probe," DCP-Crime Amit Kumar told The New Indian Express on Wednesday.

"We've sent our teams to Tamil Nadu and are serving the teenager notice to help us in investigations. The actual unidentified accused could be a foreign national, who used the Bots hosted by the Tamil Nadu teenager to send the mails to schools in Bhopal and Bengaluru. We've got the concerned Bots deleted to ensure that aren't used in future for criminal purposes," Kumar added.

The concerned teenager, whose father is a librarian, hails from a middle class family and aspires of running his own IT startup.

Importantly, the BDDS teams had swung into action immediately after around 11 top CBSE schools of Bhopal received the identical e-mails alerting about powerful bombs planted in those schools on May 13.

The CBSE Class X and XII Term II final exams were underway in those schools. The e-mails alerting about bombs in the schools later turned out to be hoax.