Bulli Bai accused remanded to police custody till Jan. 10
A local court in Mumbai on Tuesday remanded Vishal Jha, an Engineering student from Bengaluru, to cyber police custody till January 10 in connection with its investigation into two apps where images of Muslim women vocal on political social issues were put in an attempt to “auction” them.
The police have also detained a woman from Uttarakhand who is said to be the prime accused in the case. A court in the northern state granted city police four-day transit remand of the woman so that she could be brought to Mumbai. She will be produced before the Mumbai court on Wednesday, said a senior police official.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Milind Bharambe said that the police managed to nab Jha, a second year civil engineering student, in Bengaluru on Monday and brought him to Mumbai the same day.
However, he was formally arrested and produced before the Bandra magistrate court on Tuesday after several hours of questioning.
According to the police, he was arrested after his involvement in the case was confirmed during the questioning. The police said more arrests are likely.
Jha’s lawyer D. Prajapati claimed that his client was innocent and was falsely implicated in the case.
Jha was allegedly controlling one of the twitter handles used to upload the content from the app ‘Bulli Bai’, in which pictures of Muslim woman vocal on burning political and social issues, were put up for “auction”.
In 2021 too, pictures of many Muslim women and girls were uploaded on the same ‘GitHub’ platform under the name ‘Sulli Deals’. The latest app came to light on January 1 after some of the women who were targeted approached police.
The Mumbai police’s Intelligent Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO), which deals with major cybercrimes, registered the FIR in the first case in July.
According to an officer, the police have sought information from GitHub, the platform used to make the app and Twitter, where links to the app were posted on several accounts which have now been deactivated. However, the police have not received a reply from GitHub in the first case and the investigators have not received the IP address of the users, the officer said.
The app was made to look as if it was linked to Khalistani groups, but the police have said that the app doesn’t have any link with Khalistani groups or Sikhs.
Delhi police are also looking into the matter and the Delhi Commission for Women has issued a notice to police officers in this connection.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse-Patil and minister of state for home Satej Patil said strict action will be taken against the culprits.