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Cyber Crooks Hack Kannada Celebrities' Phones, Steal Thousands
13 Nov, 2025
Summary
- 30-year-old Bihar man arrested for hacking Kannada actors' phones
- Stole ₹1.65 lakh from contacts by posing as delivery service
- Part of syndicate that hacks phones and borrows money from contacts
On November 6, 2025, a 30-year-old man from a village in Bihar's Nalanda district was arrested by a Bengaluru police team for hacking the WhatsApp accounts of Kannada actor Upendra and his actress-wife Priyanka. The accused, Vikas Kumar, is part of a syndicate involved in contacting people pretending to represent courier services, hacking their phones, and borrowing money from their contacts.
Upendra and Priyanka had approached the Sadashivanagar police in Bengaluru on September 15, 2025, after realizing that their phones had been hacked and the miscreants had fraudulently obtained ₹1.65 lakh. During interrogation, Vikas confessed to hacking the phones of Priyanka, Upendra, and their manager.
The police have identified the associates of the accused and are working to apprehend them. Upendra met the Bengaluru police commissioner on November 13, 2025, to thank him for the action taken against the accused.
