17-yr-old hacks into girl’s Insta account, sends obscene pics

MUMBAI: Crime branch officials detained a 17-year-old girl from Andheri who allegedly hacked into the social media account of another minor girl and sent obscene photos and messages to people on her friend list.

The arrested girl hails from Andheri (East), where the complainant also lives. In September, the complainant had lodged a case against an unknown person who hacked her account on Instagram, a photo and video sharing platform, and sent objectionable content to her friends.

Police made inquiries with the complainant’s relatives and friends to check if anyone could have a motive to defame the girl, but no lead could be found.

Crime branch unit 10 officials had launched a parallel probe in the case.

They followed the trail of the digital device used to access the complainant’s Instagram account, through its Internet Protocol (IP) address.

When they zeroed in on the suspect, she was at her home in Andheri (East).

“We asked her why she had done this. She told police that

she was following the instructions of another person. Crime branch officials did not buy her claims and handed her over to the Meghwadi police station for further investigation,” said a senior crime branch official.

Two cell phones and a router were seized from the accused, which police said were used to commit the crime.