Delhi cops nab man for harassing women, creating fake social media profiles

The Delhi Police said that the complainant alleged said she was duped by the user of the Instagram handle, who claimed he was the editor of a Russian magazine

The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police on Monday said they had arrested a man who worked as a market research analyst with a leading multinational technology company, for allegedly harassing women by creating their fake social media accounts and posting nude images of them online.

Software and forensic equipment available at the National Cyber Forensic Lab (NCFL) at IFSO was used to nab the suspect, the Delhi police said. (iStockphoto)

Software and forensic equipment available at the National Cyber Forensic Lab (NCFL) at IFSO was used to nab the suspect, the police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (IFSO), KPS Malhotra, said a woman had filed a complaint alleging that a fake Instagram account, bearing images of her, had been created. The person further threatened to more photographs of her on September 12, 2020.

“After a preliminary enquiry, a case was registered under Section 67 of the IT Act, and an investigation was taken up,” said Malhotra.

During the investigation, Malhotra said, digital footprints and registrant details were collected from Instagram and Hotmail. The IP addresses associated with the two accounts were found to be linked with a broadband connection installed at the suspect’s residence in Noida, Malhotra said.

“The suspect was examined, but he denied his involvement and claimed his Wi-Fi was hacked by and that he had made a complaint in this regard. The suspect’s laptop and cellphones were seized and examined. There was no visible data related to the case in the devices. However, they were subjected to forensic analysis at IFSO to extract deleted data. This analysis uncovered thousands of obscene images of women, including images relevant in the case, from the laptop,” added the DCP.

The complainant said she was duped by the user of the Instagram handle, who claimed he was the editor of a Russian magazine and convinced her to send nude images, which did not reveal her face. The suspect then sent those photos to her Instagram account, demanding more images, and sent the images to her friends and relatives (including minors) as well.

“Accordingly, Section 66C of the IT Act, Section 419 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act were also invoked in the case and the suspect was arrested on February 25. It was also found that he was also involved previously in a similar case investigated by the cyber cell of the Noida police,” he added.

A resident of Kendriya Vihar in Noida Sector 82, the suspect works with a major multinational firm.