One arrested for cyberbullying scribe

The cybercrime police apprehended the main suspect behind a fake Instagram profile and a sustained cyberbullying campaign targeting a Mumbai-based news anchor, an official said on Tuesday.

The arrested was identified as 40-year-old Chet Kamal Prakash, a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir.

The accused had allegedly created multiple fake social media accounts to defame, harass and intimidate the journalist and had even threatened to sabotage her upcoming wedding.

According to officials, the case began when the victim, a resident of Delhi’s Palla Bakhtawarpur, filed a complaint stating that an unidentified individual had created a fake Instagram account using her photographs and was posting forged and derogatory content.

She also received threatening calls with the caller vowing to malign her image and create disturbances in her personal life.

Following an initial inquiry, a case under Section 66C of the IT Act was registered on November 16 at cyber police station, Outer North. After the registration of the case, a team initiated a technical probe in which two Instagram accounts, two email IDs involved in the harassment were identified, an official said.

All were traced back to the same phone number mentioned in the complaint. Digital footprints indicated consistent activity originating from Mumbai, with a smartphone emerging as the key device used to commit the offence, the cop added. The probe also revealed that the accused had created new fake Instagram IDs as recently as October, directly linking him to the cyber stalking and identity theft.

Acting on these leads, the team conducted a raid in Sahar, Andheri East, Mumbai, where the suspect, Chet Kamal Prakash, was apprehended. The police recovered the mobile phone and a laptop from the accused. Both devices have been seized in operational condition for detailed forensic analysis.