Sohna doctor's phone allegedly hacked after son downloads APK file

Gurugram: In a shocking incident, a doctor at a government civil hospital in Sohna approached police after his mobile phone was allegedly compromised following the download of a game through an APK file by his 13-year-old son.

According to police, the incident came to light two days ago when the doctor’s mobile phone suddenly became locked and inaccessible. The device reportedly returned to normal functioning after some time. A similar issue was subsequently observed on his wife’s phone, which also allegedly became locked before resuming normal operation without intervention.

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The matter escalated on Monday when a female hospital employee received an obscene WhatsApp message from the doctor’s phone number. Following this, the doctor lodged a formal complaint with the police, suspecting unauthorised access to his device.

During the preliminary inquiry, police questioned the doctor’s son in the presence of his parents. The child reportedly told investigators that he had downloaded a game on his father’s phone using a link shared by a friend. Police said the installation was done through an APK file rather than an official App Store.

“We also found that WhatsApp messages containing the APK link had been automatically sent to three or four contacts from the doctor’s phone,” an officer said, reports TOI.

Investigators examined the digital trail and traced the IP address linked to the suspicious activity to the family’s home Wi-Fi network. However, police clarified that this only indicated the source network and did not establish who was responsible for the activity.

The family initially suspected that the child’s fingerprint may have been misused to unlock the devices, but investigators ruled out this possibility during preliminary checks.

Speaking to TOI, a senior police officer said preliminary findings have not indicated any large-scale data breach. “At this stage, there is no evidence that sensitive data was stolen. However, both phones have been formatted and sent for cyberforensic examination to determine how the APK was installed, whether malware was involved, and if it led to the devices being compromised,” the officer said.

The doctor has submitted a written complaint, but the police said an FIR has not yet been registered. Officers from the Cyber South police station are awaiting the forensic report before deciding on further legal action.

Officials added that none of the recipients who allegedly received APK-related messages from the doctor’s phone has reported any similar compromise or approached authorities so far.

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