Fake Id

It is Saturday morning, and the newsreader of the DS News channel reports: “This morning, the Mumbai police arrested a scammer named Vikram Kumar, who had been impersonating a woman online under the name Preeti Dhoomcherla. He pretended to be a woman and scammed numerous people. Following complaints filed by three individuals at Bandra police station, the police apprehended him. Upon investigating his accounts, they discovered that he had defrauded more than 45 people. The police investigation is ongoing.”

The scene shifts to the evening, where two police officers, Inspector Sameer and Sub-Inspector Ravi, are discussing the case. Sameer says, “This guy is different from anyone I’ve interrogated before. He confessed to his crime without hesitation and is even enduring the bruises without complaint.” Ravi responds, “Sir, then the case is solved, isn’t it?” Sameer shakes his head thoughtfully and replies, “Hmm, but you know our real focus is on something deeper. You understand that, right?” Ravi nods and says, “Yes, sir. Leave it to me. I’ll handle it.”

Ravi enters the interrogation cell carrying a stack of files. Inside, he finds Vikram Kumar, his face bearing bruises, casually singing the 'Khal Nayak' song. As soon as Vikram notices Ravi, he stops singing. Ravi sets down two chairs and says, “Take a seat.” Vikram hesitates, but Ravi assures him, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to beat you.”

In the dimly lit room, Ravi and Vikram sit across from each other. Ravi opens the case file and begins reading aloud. “Vikram Kumar. A cybersecurity expert. An orphan. It seems like no one was there to teach you any morals.” Vikram simply smiles, remaining silent. Ravi leans forward and says, “Do you think this is a joke? You scammed nearly 48 people. Don’t you feel any guilt about it?”

Vikram breaks his silence, “Sir, I admit to committing the crime—impersonating a woman and trapping people into sending me money. But guilt? No, sir, I don’t feel any regret about what I did.” Ravi, growing angrier, throws some photos in front of Vikram. “Look at these chats! Do you see how these people begged you not to reveal anything? Out of fear, they didn’t even report this to the police. How can you not feel remorse?”

Vikram smirks and replies, “Those guys should’ve thought about that before chatting with me. Sir, you’re calling them ‘innocent’ because you’re looking at their last few messages. Scroll up, and you’ll see the true nature of these so-called ‘victims.’” 

Ravi exhales deeply and responds, “Hmm, I’ve seen that too. Many of them are perverts. But you exploited their vulnerabilities to commit fraud.” Vikram shrugs. “What do you expect me to say, sir? I agree—I committed the crime. Lock me up. I’m okay with that.” Ravi takes a deep breath and asks, “I want to know why you did all this. What was the purpose? Where did it all start?”

Vikram begins narrating, “Well, it all started as a prank. I used to prank people all the time. In my office, there was a guy who acted just like these so-called ‘innocents.’ He was a misogynist, so I created the Preeti Dhoomcherla account to teach him a lesson. That guy fell for my trick, but around the same time, I started receiving messages from other people. At first, I ignored them. But some of their messages triggered me. Stuff like, ‘Hi baby, wanna sex chat?’ or ‘Hi babe, there’s a monster waiting for you.’”

He continues, “I understand that sexual thoughts are natural for humans, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to randomly message someone asking for sex chats or private pictures. These guys acted as if I was some kind of sex doll or slave, waiting to cater to their every whim. And when I didn’t respond the way they wanted, they hurled abuses. Showing pride of there of body count and affairs as pride. Sending their nude at midnight. Also saying one damn dialogue ‘Don’t worry you are safe’. Imagine—these people were doing this for a fake ID. Think about what real women face on a daily basis. How must they feel?”

Vikram pauses briefly, then adds, “There’s no particular age group to blame—neither this generation nor the older one is innocent. My only question is: where do they get the courage to send such messages? Sir you told me an orphan earlier, and there is no one there to teach good things that why I act like one. But what about these men? Don’t they have families? Don’t they have mothers, sisters, wives, or daughters? Or are they orphans like me? If the court finds me guilty, shouldn’t it also consider charging these men for harassment?”

Ravi takes a deep breath and says, “Fine, you fooled them, but you didn’t stop there. You scammed them by making them to pay money.” Vikram laughs and responds, “Well, I did make some of them pay, but the amounts were usually below ₹2000. After revealing the truth, I returned their money and warned them not to do such things to anyone again.” Ravi, now visibly angry, says, “No, we have evidence that you took more than ₹50,000 and never returned it.” 

Vikram smiled and said, “Then call the person I supposedly duped.” Ravi responded, “Why should I follow your orders?” Vikram replied, “Sir, you know I’ve been running this account for the past three years. Not a single person came forward to file a proper complaint, except one. He’s the one behind all of this, but even he hasn’t filed a formal complaint until now. None other than Maharashtra’s finance minister Rajiv Khanna’s son, Adhik Khanna.”

Hearing this, Ravi was taken aback, his mind racing with questions. How did Vikram know about this? But he maintained his composure and firmly said, “So what? You scammed him. The scammed amount of ₹1,35,000 hasn’t been returned to date. You’ve also ruined your life by pulling a prank on someone so powerful.” Vikram smirked again and said, “Sir, I returned that entire amount. Not a single rupee was kept. He’s doing this out of revenge. And as for ruining my life, I’m not going behind bars. Just type ‘secretmahalink.com’ into your mobile browser.”

Ravi typed the link into his browser, and a website opened with a countdown timer. Confused, he asked, “What is this?” Vikram responded, “Do you really want to know, sir?” Ravi nodded, and Vikram said, “Then hand me your mobile, sir.” Ravi hesitated for a moment but eventually handed over his phone. Vikram typed something, then returned the phone to Ravi. “Take a look now, sir,” he said. Ravi checked his phone and was shocked by what he saw. Noticing Ravi’s reaction, Vikram smirked and said, “Now, call Minister Rajiv Khanna, sir. Otherwise, his son and his political career will be finished.”

After a few moments, we see Ravi, Sameer, and Vikram inside the room, with a phone placed on the table on speaker mode. From the other side of the phone, a calm yet authoritative voice spoke, "Sub Inspector Ravi, I heard you wanted to speak to me. What is this about?" It was none other than Maharashtra Finance Minister Rajiv Khanna himself. Ravi took a deep breath, glancing at Sameer, who gave him a subtle nod to proceed. "Sir, this concerns your son, Adhik Khanna. We have something that might disturb you."

Rajiv responded, “What’s that?” Ravi then said, “Sir, we have retrieved two videos. One of them contains your son's nudity, and the other captures a conversation between you and an opposition party member discussing a scam.” Rajiv’s voice grew louder as he responded, “What are you waiting for? Delete those videos and teach that bastard a lesson. Don’t call me.” Sameer intervened, “Sir, hold on. These videos are set to be leaked through a website, and that guy, Vikram, is also listening to this.”

Rajesh asked, “Is he listening to this call?” Sameer responded, “Yes, sir.” Rajesh, in an authoritative tone, said, “Hey, you! Listen, you’ve touched my ego. Don’t think you can escape from this. I will have that website taken down within minutes.”

Vikram calmly replied, “Sir, the website is a one-way system. I accessed these videos through Sub-Inspector Ravi’s phone. So, think about what I left behind before they caught me. Also, these videos are very important as they uphold your dignity.” Rajesh then asked, “What do you really want?”

Vikram responded, “Sir, we don’t know each other personally. It’s your son who is trying to take revenge. Let’s sort this out simply. I need three things. First, tomorrow or today, the police should tell the media that they arrested the wrong person. Second, I need a police character certificate stating that I am not accused of any crime. Third, I need confirmation that I will lead a safe life after this. It’s simple, sir. If you agree, I promise these videos will remain between us.”

Rajesh questioned, “So, you’re not going to delete these videos?” Vikram replied, “I need some guarantee, sir. I’m not asking you for money. I just want to live my life as it is.” Rajesh listened carefully, considering his options.

After a few moments, we see Sameer addressing the media, saying, “We actually arrested the wrong person. We deeply regret this mistake. Vikram’s old Instagram account, which was deactivated, was hacked by someone else. We are committed to tracing the real culprit. I sincerely apologize to the public for this error.”

Later, we see Vikram looking outside as he prepares to leave the station. At that moment, Ravi approaches him from behind and says, “So, you’ve won at last. But don’t think you’re doing the right thing by exploiting people’s vulnerabilities.” Vikram responds, “Sir, my only hope is that after experiencing something like this, they’ll change their behavior and stay cautious.” Ravi then questions, “Do you really think they will?”

Vikram replies, “I believe they will. Let’s see. All we can do is hope.” Ravi advises him, “At least from today onwards, stop doing these foolish things. It’s for your own safety.” Vikram simply smiles, says nothing, and leaves the station, leaving behind a mystery: will he continue his mischief, or will he turn over a new leaf?