  We study the possibility of detecting dark matter directly via a small but
energetic component that is allowed within present-day constraints. Drawing
closely upon the fact that neutral current neutrino nucleon interactions are
indistinguishable from DM-nucleon interactions at low energies, we extend this
feature to high energies for a small, non-thermal but highly energetic
population of DM particle $\chi$, created via the decay of a significantly more
massive and long-lived non-thermal relic $\phi$, which forms the bulk of DM. If
$\chi$ interacts with nucleons, its cross-section, like the neutrino-nucleus
coherent cross-section, can rise sharply with energy leading to deep inelastic
scattering, similar to neutral current neutrino-nucleon interactions at high
energies. Thus, its direct detection may be possible via cascades in very large
neutrino detectors. As a specific example, we apply this notion to the recently
reported three ultra-high energy PeV cascade events clustered around $1-2$ PeV
at IceCube (IC). We discuss the features which may help discriminate this
scenario from one in which only astrophysical neutrinos constitute the event
sample in detectors like IC.
