CA aspirant held for posting derogatory images of Hindu deities online

Maharashtra Cyber Police arrested a 39-year-old for creating vulgar edits of Hindu deities, following complaints about online obscenity.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Cyber Police on Sunday arrested a 39-year-old aspiring chartered accountant from Indore for allegedly creating vulgar edits of Hindu deities and posting them on social media. According to the police, MP Medha Kulkarni had complained to the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last year about distorted depictions of Hindu deities making rounds online. The CM directed the Director General of Police to take action against such social media users. Based on this complaint, the Maharashtra Cyber police have flagged social media accounts.

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Using technical analysis, they tracked the owner of this social media account, who was identified as a B Com graduate from Madhya Pradesh. The cyber police scanned his phone and allegedly found six additional X accounts he was running to disseminate similar obscene and provocative content online. These X accounts were operating in a coordinated manner, spreading derogatory material across various platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, online marketplaces, and pornographic websites, said a police officer.

An FIR was registered against him under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), 294 (offenses related to obscenity), and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, along with Sections 67 and 67(A) which deals with publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.

The police are investigating and conducting forensic analysis of the device to trace the real identities of the remaining six accounts, which are presumed to be fake. “We have arrested the accused and are questioning about his motive and associates,” said the officer from Maharashtra cyber police. The aspirant was arrested and remanded to police custody till May 13.

Crackdown on misinformation

Maharashtra Cyber has removed 5038 posts from social media platforms, uploaded between April 22, after the terror attack in Pahalgam, and Monday.

The officials said they removed content presumed to be fake news or misinformation regarding the military conflict between India and Pakistan, army movements, strategic operations, or retaliatory measures. Some of them carried content which could spread tension in the country that may cause serious risks to national security and escalate the conflict.

The cybercrime unit issued an advisory on content not to post on social media.