Punjab man held for creating fake profiles using morphed images of Thane influencer

The accused, identified as Golu Jairam, a Class VII dropout and resident of Basti Jodhewal in Ludhiana, Punjab, was brought to Thane on a transit remand and produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody till January 1, the police said

THANE: A 21-year-old man from Punjab was arrested on Saturday by the Thane Police for allegedly creating over 100 fake social media profiles of an influencer from the city and posting her morphed nude images.

Punjab man held for creating fake profiles using morphed images of Thane influencer

The accused, identified as Golu Jairam, a Class VII dropout and resident of Basti Jodhewal in Ludhiana, Punjab, was brought to Thane on a transit remand and produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody till January 1, said a police officer from Kapurbawdi Police Station.

According to the police, the complainant, a 50-year-old Thane resident, runs a popular Instagram account posting content on social issues and has a following of over 1.7 million. In May 2025, she received a vulgar comment on one of her posts from a user named “golu8353raj.” On checking the account, she discovered that the handle contained morphed nude photographs of hers. Eventually, she found that various such profiles had been created. She also began receiving her morphed nude images through direct messages from unknown users, following which she approached the Kapurbawdi police on November 7.

Subsequently, the police registered a case against the unidentified accused under Sections 79 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and 356(2) (criminal defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66C (identity theft), 66E (violation of privacy) and 67 (obscene material) of the Information Technology Act.

Senior police inspector Manjusha Bhongale said they then sought assistance from the cyber cell and began tracing IP addresses linked to the fake profiles and objectionable posts. “Our investigation revealed that the accused had created more than 100 fake profiles. He used mobile phones and Wi-Fi connections of his employers, friends and relatives to evade detection,” she said.

Police officer Nitin Jadhav, who was a part of the investigation, said investigators zeroed in on a fake account named ‘Raj,’ which matched details in the complaint. Further investigation and IP address tracking led them to a catering firm, which revealed that ‘Jairaj’ was the father of a daily-wage worker of the firm. Further probe led them to the accused’s residence in Ludhiana, where he was arrested.