Assam engineer made ₹10 lakh from morphing image of woman to defame her: Police

The accused had used the image of the victim to generate several obscene content and pornographic materials using AI software.

A mechanical engineer in Assam’s Tinsukia district has been arrested for allegedly creating and monetising AI-generated pornographic content using morphed images of a woman he knew, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

Dibrugarh Senior Superintendent of Police (in-charge) Sizal Agarwal said a complaint was received from the victim on Saturday. (Representational Image)

While the criminal act began as a personal vendetta, it soon turned into a money-making scheme for the accused, earning him nearly ₹10 lakh by putting the content behind a paid subscription wall, PTI reported.

As per the police, the accused used advanced AI software to generate explicit videos and images featuring the woman’s face and then circulated them across social media platforms.

Dibrugarh Senior Superintendent of Police (in-charge) Sizal Agarwal said a complaint was received from the victim on Saturday stating that her morphed images and videos were being used to defame her.

The content had gone viral following a manipulated image linking her to an adult film actor, sparking false rumours that she had entered the adult film industry in the US.

"We received a complaint yesterday that the morphed and AI-generated photos and videos of the victim were being circulated on social media. The reference of an Instagram page was included with it, and when we searched for credentials of the page owner, we found a phone number which we traced to the accused," Agarwal said.

"The accused had used the image of the victim to generate several obscene content and pornographic materials using AI software. They have a past acquaintance, and he did it due to personal reasons," he added.

Police traced the account responsible for circulating the fake content through a phone number linked to an Instagram page, and the accused was arrested late Saturday night in Tinsukia.

"There was a subscription link to the adult content that he had posted, and people had to pay to access it. He earned about ₹10 lakh through it. He kept on continuing the crime as he got greedy, though he had initiated it for harassing the woman," she said.

A search of his belongings led to the seizure of digital evidence, including a laptop, mobile phones, hard drives, and other devices used in the operation.

Authorities are now involving multiple cybercrime and forensic agencies to further investigate the scope of the digital crime and track any additional individuals who may have purchased or shared the illicit material.

Agarwal also urged people to be careful while accessing online content and, have a closer look before circulating any information they receive on social media.