Bengaluru Police Crime Branch arrested two people after college students in the city found their private photos on a pornographic website.
The photos were extracted from the students' personal social media accounts and were removed after the matter came to light.
At least 30 pictures were uploaded on the pornographic website. Two accused, Ajay Thanikachalam, 37, and Vikas Raghotham, 27, were arrested under Sections 66 (Computer-related offences) and 67 (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. Eight FIRs have been registered in this case.
The students had reportedly informed the staff and principal of the college, and a complaint was then filed with the police.
CCB Cyber Crime Wing arrest 2 accused who uploaded photos of Victims on porn sites..photos taken from victims Social Media accounts..strict legal action is being taken.. @CPBlr
— Sandeep Patil IPS (@ips_patil) July 30, 2020
One student, Vivek, told the Deccan Herald that they were alerted about the photos posted on the website after messages were sent on the students' class WhatsApp groups.
He also emailed the website asking them to remove the photos. The website initially told Vivek that he had no legal authority to demand the photos' be taken down, however, they eventually took notice after hundreds of students sent emails.
One of the accused pretended to be a girl using a fake social media profile and interacted with the second accused. The two reportedly never met.
Later, the second accused started sharing images of college girls and the first accused (who was pretending to be a girl) uploaded them on the porn website.
"One motive for uploading the pictures was to harass those girls. There was no involvement of money," Kuldeep Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Crime Branch said.
Also Read: Madhya Pradesh: Woman Paraded With Husband On Shoulders On Suspicion Of Infidelity, Several Arrested