The Hindu Business Line : Stalked by strangers

The recent murder of Adnan Patrawala, 16-year old son of a Mumbai industrialist, raises a few sensitive issues on the nexus between crime and the Internet.

Ironically, it was just a few weeks ago that I wrote about this, and we now have a classic case to illustrate how the Web, if not directly, at least indirectly, promotes crime. I had specifically referred to the negative features of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

And like many others who write on the goings-on in cyberspace, I had warned of the need for extreme self-discipline on the part of those who become members. Little did I foresee that my caution was going to be prophetic.

Although I could be repeating myself, I thought some basic facts of the gruesome episode would serve to reinforce the message that if you are not abundantly wary, membership in these sites could embarrass you, and perhaps lead you to disaster. It is not my point that it was the Orkut connection that solely led to Adnan’s end. But it definitely forged a criminal partnership, which facilitated the crime. A ransom demand was sufficiently condemnable. But a murder was the most heinous of crimes that the unholy alliance could commit, having come together solely on an Internet platform.

Ugly turn of events

As I write this column, I do not have all the facts with me. The Mumbai Police, which has investigated the case, have not taken the public into confidence with all that the latter would like to know about the gory crime. This is understandable because there are several wild speculations that are not exactly conducive to a professional investigation.

Basically, the incident seems to revolve round Ayush Bhat (19), Khimesh Ambavat (17), Sujit Nair (28), Raju Dharia (22) and a girl called Neha, who possibly passed off on Orkut as ‘Angel’.

While the first four have been arrested by the police, Neha was let off after questioning, because although she was present at the scene in question, she did not seem to be aware of the ransom plot.

The oldest of the lot, Sujit is a call centre employee who is described as the mastermind of the whole operation. It is also said that Adnan was a frequent visitor to Orkut. (For the benefit of the uninitiated, Orkut derives its name from Orkut Buyukkokten, a Turkish software engineer, working for Google, who was the brainchild for this innovation that has captivated a large slice of the world’s youth. Launched in January 2004, the site has grown at an alarming pace. It has now a claimed membership of 67,000,000. Apart from the normal features such as messaging and album, Orkut has certain unique ones such as ‘Scrapbook’ and ‘Communities’.)

Adnan had met all or some of the youth named above. It is believed he had exchanged several messages with Angel, who was being used as a decoy to ensnare him. On the fateful evening of August 18, 2007 — a Saturday, when, all of us know, socialising is at its maximum — the gang had lured Adnan out of his home with the promise of a face-to-face meeting with Angel.

The prospective Adnan-Angel meeting is confirmed by a message on the Orkut scrapbook.

It is again not very clear whether Adnan was actually confined to a place from where the gang had made a demand on his father for a ransom of Rs 2 crore. But it is known that Adnan was being driven around the city in his own Skoda car and had also been made to drink alcohol that had been drugged. He was subsequently strangled, and his body was found abandoned in the car in a north-eastern suburb of Mumbai two days later.

There is a feeling that the kidnappers did not originally intend murder, but resorted to some panicky reaction once they got to know that the police were after them.

Digital evidence

The Mumbai Police have naturally relied heavily on Google to get at some basic facts, such as the profiles of the characters involved in the episode, as put down on Orkut, the number of messages exchanged between them and the computer machines they had used, along with their IP numbers.

Digital evidence will play a large role in reconstructing the case and producing a credible case before the Judge concerned.

Google may not be found wanting in its cooperation, as it would not naturally like to have a brush with law enforcement in a country that has one of its largest subscriber bases. (Recall the speed with which the company recently removed the fake profile of the UP Chief Minister, Mayavati, that had been uploaded by some mischievous elements on to Orkut.)

Preventing a repeat

What will be of greater interest to many parents is the kind of protection that Google contemplates in order to prevent a repeat of the Adnan episode. It has actually a moral obligation to think on these terms.

Having said this, I wonder what it can do in practical terms. Possibly not much, given the mind boggling numbers involved. Ideal would be a background check of all those enlisted. This is a Gargantuan task.

What is possible, however, is a database on the background of each member that is comprehensive and has verifiable particulars in the event of a happening like the one that has now shocked us.

Such a database will aid police investigations, even assuming that not all the information furnished by a member at enlistment is genuine.

The IP numbers of all machines used by a member (even when they access the Net from a cyber café) should be readily available to an investigator.

Also, Orkut’s Home Page should constantly highlight the need for transparency and member conduct in conformity with the local law, and a warning that any deviation would invite immediate suspension of access, along with due publicity given to such punitive action.

Need I say that what is advocated here applies with equal force to all other social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

What parents must do

Google’s accountability to the physical safety of its members does not even slightly dilute the responsibility of parents to their wards in ensuring that the latter’s surfing habits are healthy and not reckless.

I presume a majority of such parents, who are in urban or semi-urban centres with stable Internet access, are knowledgeable enough to keep a tab on the doings of their children.

The latter should be made to realise that online friendships are tenuous and are fraught with undesirable consequences if due caution is not observed.

Avoiding physical meetings with those who are only names on the Web is the key to security. If this fundamental precaution is violated, disaster lurks round the corner.

Ultimately this boils down to effective discharge of parental responsibility, something that is becoming more and more of a problem in these days when both parents are away at work for long hours.

This is where school teachers will have to fill the breach. If they will not do this, social action groups might have to step in effectively and mount pressure on school administration.

We are a pathetic nation if we cannot do even this minimum counselling for children in a world that is becoming dangerous by the day.

The writer is a former CBI Director who is currently Adviser (Security) to TCS Ltd.

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