09 September,2020 05:37 PM IST | Mumbai | Vishal Singh
20-year-old Alfaz Jamani was arrested from Gujarat
Mumbai police's cyber unit arrested a 20-year-old boy, a resident of Gujarat, for stalking, blackmailing and spreading child pornography of girls aged between 9 to 15 years.
During the initial investigation, police found more than 700 nude photos of girls from his mobile phone which he managed to get from them after hacking their Instagram accounts.
The accused has been identified as Alfaz Jamani and he was arrested from Mahua village of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat. After finishing Class 12, Jamani left his studies and started working at an onion dehydration plant.
Dr. Rashmi Karandikar, DCP (Cyber), told Mid-day, "On September 6, we received a complaint from the parents of the girls. The parents said that someone has uploaded nude pictures of their children on Instagram. All the girls are aged 9 to 15 years."
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After receiving a complaint, the cyber police started the investigation and traced the location of the accused in Gujarat. "We sent a team and arrested him. During interrogation, he revealed that he used to send friend requests to minor girls and after they accept the request, he would start talking to them. He used to download the photos of the girls from their Instagram account and morph them and upload it on his other Instagram account," police said.
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After uploading the photos, the accused used to take a screenshot of it and send it to the victim, saying that someone has uploaded her nude photo and if she wants it to be removed she will have to share her username and password.
"Once he gets the details, he would start talking with the girl's female friends from her account and ask them to share their nude photos and videos. He used to convince the girls for sending their nude photos and videos by claiming to share details of medicine and diet for keeping the body in shape," police added.
"We found out 17 fake Instagram profiles made by the accused which he used to become friend with minors," the DCP added.
The cyber police have registered a case under Section 354 D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 12 (punishable for sexual harassment),13 (Use of child for pornographic purposes) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act and Sections 43, 66,66 (a) of the Cyber law.
In 2019, a case of cyberstalking was registered against Jamani in Pune and he was arrested. However, he was granted bail.
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