Indian hackers always thought they were too sophisticated to fall into the hands of the rough cops in this country, whom various human rights groups routinely accuse of brutality.

But that feeling evaporated after one of the four people arrested recently in connection with a hacking incident accused Mumbai police of breaking his hand during interrogation. While the charge hasn't been substantiated, hackers in Mumbai admitted to being petrified. And the police, while denying the incident, don't sound too apologetic. "Let hackers know that some tough people are out here," said Senior Inspector I.M. Zahid, an investigator in the hacking case. "I killed naxalities (terrorists) in Andhra Pradesh (South India) before being reassigned in Mumbai. I am not saying that I was merciless with the hackers, but my point is that we cops have seen such tough situations that we know how to handle boys." It all started when 23-year old Anand Khare, who calls himself Dr. Neukar, gained control over ccicmumbai.com, the site of Mumbai cops' Cyber Crime Cell, or CCC. He pasted abuses and challenged them to catch him. They did. Three others were arrested and charged with helping Khare. One of them, Mahesh Mhatre, said an officer broke his hand during the interrogation. He also accused the police of torturing him.