Ahmedabad, The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch has arrested eight people, including a woman, and initiated legal action against three minors after registering nine FIRs over allegations of online harassment, fake social media profiles, circulation of objectionable content and blackmail, police said.
The action was taken under "Mission Cyber Rakshika", an initiative aimed at protecting women from cyber-stalking, online abuse, identity theft, and blackmail.
Police said separate teams traced the accused through technical analysis of information gathered from social media platforms, leading to action in Ahmedabad, other parts of Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
According to a press note issued by the cyber crime branch, complaints were received from women who were allegedly targeted through fake accounts on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
The complainants were counselled by women officers, and cases were registered while keeping their identities confidential.
The motives include personal disputes, failed relationships, resentment following disagreements and attempts to increase social media followers and likes by posting objectionable material, police said.
Police said in several instances, photographs and videos of women were misused to harass them, damage their reputation, or settle personal scores.
{{/usCountry}}Police said in several instances, photographs and videos of women were misused to harass them, damage their reputation, or settle personal scores.
{{/usCountry}}In one case, three minors allegedly edited videos of a woman performing garba during Navratri and uploaded them on Instagram with objectionable remarks. They allegedly used their parents' mobile numbers to create accounts and sought to increase their followers and likes by circulating these videos.
In another case, an accused allegedly created a fake Instagram profile using a woman's photograph and contacted her husband's friends impersonating her. He also allegedly uploaded objectionable photographs of the woman on the account's stories to harass and defame her, police said.
In a separate case, an accused allegedly circulated a video claiming that a woman was involved in an extramarital relationship.
According to police, the accused had a personal dispute with the complainant after a confrontation involving his mother and the woman's friend. The accused allegedly used social media to spread the allegations and damage her reputation.
Another accused allegedly created a fake Instagram account using a woman's photographs and sent an objectionable video to her sister's account. Police said the accused and the complainant had been in a relationship, but differences between them allegedly led to the harassment.
In another case, a man allegedly created a fake Instagram account without a woman's knowledge or consent and sent objectionable photographs to her fiancé after she refused to marry him. Police said the accused allegedly intended to disrupt the woman's engagement.
In a separate case, a woman allegedly created a fake Instagram account in the name of her female colleague and sent messages to people as she harboured a grudge against the victim over her friendship with a man at their workplace.
Police said the cyber crime branch is monitoring social media platforms to identify fake accounts and objectionable content targeting women and children.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.