An IAS officer in Kerala has filed a police complaint alleging that his mobile phone was hacked by unknown cybercriminals and religious WhatsApp groups were created without his consent.

Official K Gopalakrishnan, director of industries and commerce in Kerala, claimed that the hackers made him the administrator of two WhatsApp groups – Mallu Hindu Officers and Mallu Muslim Officers, The Indian Express reported.

According to the official, the Mallu Hindu Officers group was formed on October 30. Several more senior officials were added to the group. After officials determined the inappropriateness of such a group, he deleted it.

The newspaper reported that the officer informed members of the group that his phone had been hacked. He told them that 11 such groups had been formed.

Later, Mallu Muslim Officers group was also formed with him as administrator. He said he deleted the group when his colleagues brought it to his attention.

Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar said they were checking WhatsApp for details about the groups.

The Kerala government is investigating the official's claims

The Kerala government will investigate the incident related to setting up a WhatsApp group for Hindu IAS officers, state industries minister P. Rajeeve said on Monday.

Reacting to the controversy, Rajeeve said that the state government will explore forming a group specifically for Hindu IAS officers.

“The government will look into this matter. There is a general code of conduct for IAS officers which falls under the purview of the Public Administration Department. We are currently reviewing the situation. Let us examine and determine what needs to be done,” he told reporters in the state capital.

In his complaint, the official stated that he did not add officials to the groups in question. The incident happened three days ago.

The police are investigating the case.

With inputs from PTI