Addressing a press conference on the 'Bulli Bai' case, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday, 5 January, said that the intention behind creating the app was to "circulate it on a large scare to hurt sentiments of certain communities."
Meanwhile, Mumbai Commissioner of Police Hemant Nagarale has confirmed that three accused have been identified, with Uttarakhand man Mayank Rawat being the latest. Nagarale added that many more suspects are yet to be nabbed.
The Bulli Bai app, created on GitHub, misused the photos of hundreds of Muslim women by allegedly auctioning them.
Nagarale added that both the app and the Twitter handle were named Bulli Bai, which helped the cops to nab the suspects.
"Modus operandi was target women related to specific communities through Bulli Bai app to defame them. It was created on 31st December. We immediately booked a case once we received information about it," the Mumbai Police said.
Who is Mayank Rawat?
Rawat, a 21-year-old student from Uttarakhand's Kotdwar, is Mumbai Police's latest arrest in the Bulli Bai case. As per reports, Rawat studied in a college in Delhi.
At present, the police has interrogated the suspect and is engaged in further investigation.
An FIR under sections 153A, 153B, 295A, 509, 500, 354 D and A, of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as Section 67 of the IT Act has been registered by the police.
Investigation So Far
Speaking about the investigation, Naharale said that the Mumbai Police first analysed the 'Bulli Bai' app on GitHub. It had only five followers.
"This led us to Vishal Kumar Jha, a second-year engineering student from Bangalore and Shweta Singh from Uttarakhand. We analysed every Twitter handle. We have nabbed three accused till now," Nagarale said.
While Vishal Jha, the 21-year-old engineering student, will be in police custody till 10 January, 18-year-old Shweta Singh is on transit remand.
"The whole investigation was carried out online. Some email ids have been traced. We appeal if anyone has any knowledge about these accounts, [they] should come forward," he added.
Another Suspect From Nepal?
According to police sources, Singh, during initial questioning, revealed that she was following instructions from a Nepal-based person identified as Giyou.
She was using Twitter handle @jattkhalsa07 and was friends with Giyou on social media. Singh reportedly lost her father to COVID last year and her mother earlier to cancer. She was preparing for engineering entrance exams.
The 18-year-old, who is the second child in an economically weak household, has a younger brother and sister who are in school.
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