Man arrested for posting morphed photos of woman on social media

The Delhi Police on Monday said they arrested a 33-year-old cloth merchant from Tughlaqabad Extension for allegedly posting morphed photographs of a woman, who works

The Delhi Police on Monday said they arrested a 33-year-old cloth merchant from Tughlaqabad Extension for allegedly posting morphed photographs of a woman, who works with a national political party’s IT cell, on social media. The police said the man was attempting to malign the woman’s image, probably because of her political connections. Other persons involved in the crime are also being tracked, senior officers said. The man circulated the posts on Twitter, Facebook and messaging apps, the police said.

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Delhi Police spokesperson Anil Mittal said the cyber crime unit registered a case under relevant sections of the IT Act after receiving a complaint from a woman alleging that someone had circulated her morphed pictures on social media. The woman told the police that the photographs were obscene.

“During the investigation, we found that such posts had been shared with multiple people through social media. We got the posts removed from Facebook and Twitter,” Mittal said.

He said that technical surveillance led the police to an account, which had originally shared the obscene posts. The police found that the account details were in the name of one Mohammed Aasim Sayaad, a resident of Tuglakabad Extension, who works as a cloth merchant.

“We arrested the man and inspected his mobile phone and computer, which revealed that he had shared the offensive posts on Facebook. He has confessed to his involvement,” Mittal said.

Another officer privy to the probe, who wished not to be named, said the probe has suggested that there were many others involved in the crime. “Sayaad is being interrogated to find out on whose directions such pictures were posted on the Internet. Some other account holders who posted the offensive content have also been identified through technical investigation and further probe is underway,” the officer said.

The woman said that she is expecting more people to be arrested and that the police must investigate the matter thoroughly. “I had lodged the FIR around two months ago. I think I was targeted because I am holding the flag of my political party in my Twitter profile picture . The same photograph was used, morphed and circulated on almost all social media platforms. It looks like the intention behind this is mainly political,” she said.