Cops write to US telecom service provider to trace hoax call to Cisco

The Whitefield division police have sought call details from AT&T — an American telecom conglomerate headquartered in Dallas in Texas — in connection with the hoax bomb call made to Cisco in the city on June 8.

The call, which was believed to be made from India, was routed through the Cisco headquarters in San Francisco in the United States to its branch office in the city through an AT&T telecom line, the police have learnt.

Airtel is the telecom service provider for Cisco in the city, a senior police officer said.

“We have sent emails through government channels to both the AT&T and Cisco in the United States, asking them to provide us with details regarding the call that was routed to Bengaluru last Friday,” said Abdul Ahad, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Whitefield division.

“Since the Americans are concerned about privacy, they may take legal opinion before providing us with the details,” said another officer.

“If it was an Indian telecom provider, we could have had the call details in less than a week,” he said. “It could be a time-consuming task with technical challenges. But we are confident that we will arrest the caller,” he added.

The caller spoke in Hindi and the police believe the call originated from India through Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP).

The Marthahalli police, investigating the case, suspect a role of a company insider.

As the company does not have direct-end customers and only provides IT infrastructure and solutions to other companies, it looks like the call was a handiwork of an insider, the police said.

The police also suspect a link between the threat call and the recent arrests of three Cisco maintenance staff on June 6, who stole lab optics worth Rs 87 lakh from the company.