“The Gujarat scientist has confessed that he himself wrote the letter and cooked up the story of attack”. “The Gujarat scientist has confessed that he himself wrote the letter and cooked up the story of attack”.

A Surendranagar-based scientist doctor, who is in his 60s, allegedly forged a threat letter in Arabic using Google translator and claimed it to be from ISIS, the Cyber Cell of Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) has found after investigations. Mukesh Shukla had told the local police that the ISIS wanted to acquire information from him about a “secret drug formula for treating malaria and HIV” on which he had been working for more than two decades.

DCB officials said Shukla’s computer was scanned thoroughly and a soft copy of the letter written in English, which was translated as it is in Arabic, was recovered. The translation application, which Shukla had deleted, was also recovered from his compute. According to police, Shukla even cooked up a story of an attack on him last week by two bike-borne assailants who threw chemical substance on him in an attempt to rob him.

After Shukla was busted, he reportedly told the DCB officials that “he has been researching for drugs for treating HIV among other diseases for the last 28 years, however, society never took note of his efforts. This led him to depression. He has confessed that he himself wrote the letter and cooked up the story of attack”.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCB) Deepan Bhadran told The Indian Express that Shukla has been handed over to the local Surendranagar police for further investigation. Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Deepak Meghani said: “We have cracked the case with the help of Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch. But we have not arrested or detained Shukla as yet. We are mulling our next step considering that Shukla is a senior citizen and currently under medication.” He added the court concerned will be informed that the FIR was false.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Ahmedabad News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd