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Mumbai Police have arrested one more student in the 'Bulli Bai' case, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday, 5 January, day after a Mumbai court sent 21-year-old Vishal Kumar Jha to police custody till 10 January in connection with the case. The court also granted a warrant to search his Bengaluru residence.
The Mumbai Police had on 3 January detained the Bengaluru student, whose arrest was confirmed a day later. On the same day, the cops also detained an 18-year-old woman from Uttarakhand, identified as Shweta Singh. She has now been arrested by Mumbai Police.
On Tuesday, before disclosing her name, police sources had informed that the then anonymous woman involved was the primary suspect in the case.
"She was handling at least three accounts related to the Bulli Bai app," an official, who is a part of the investigating team, told The Quint.
Photos of hundreds of Muslim women were misused and 'auctioned off' on a GitHub app called 'Bulli Bai'. While the incident became public on 1 January 2022, a similar app 'Sulli Deals' had created controversy in July 2021.
'Accused Pretended to be Non-Hindu'
"Both the accused were social media friends. They were friends on Facebook and Instagram. The links are now established," the officer told The Quint.
According to the investigating team, Jha had tried to mislead users by assuming non-Hindu identities. He had also reportedly opened a social media account by the name "Khalsa Supremacist."
"On 31 December, he had changed the names of other accounts to mirror Sikh names. We have solid proof to pin the accused to the case. We have a solid case. The accused will be produced in court," the officer added.
Arrest Recorded After Hours of Questioning
While the man was arrested after hours of questioning, the woman is yet to arrive in Mumbai for questioning.
"She will also be brought to Mumbai for further enquiry," a police source had earlier said, adding that she will first be produced in a Uttarakhand court for transit permit.
"We were not told of the detention of any accused in the case," a Bengaluru police officer said, when asked about Jha's detention.
A Mumbai Police officer had also responded, saying, "We are making moves clandestinely to prevent the perpetrators from fleeing their place of residence."
Earlier, Maharashtra Minister Satej D Patil told The Quint, "We are not disclosing details as the case should stand the scrutiny of law. We have enough to bank on."
He had refused to comment on the second detention in the case.
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