A 23-year-old man in Uttar Pradesh has been arrested for allegedly using a fake profile to pose as a woman on Instagram to trap innocent minor girls. The accused lured innocent minor girls into sending him obscene pictures and videos. According to the reports, the accused, identified as Abdul Samad, an air-conditioner mechanic, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police by tracing him through electronic surveillance from Lucknow.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP South) Atul Kumar Thakur said that the accused Abdul Samad was arrested from his house in Lucknow and recovered his smart mobile phone containing the details of many girls and their obscene videos and photos.
The police said that Samad initiated conversations with teenage children and asked them to send their obscene photographs and videos. The incident came to light after a 15-year-old victim registered a complaint on August 27.
During the investigation, the Uttar Pradesh police sent notices to WhatsApp and Instagram asking them to provide details of mobile numbers and Instagram IDs of the accused. Based on those details, the police team traced the accused from Lucknow.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to the police that he posed as a woman to start conversations with a teenage girl.
The accused had a keen interest in Internet-based social media sites and learnt about them from YouTube, said the police. The accused also learnt about some other applications like “Text Now”, wherein he used to send messages and made video calls to girls through international numbers. He has also represented himself as an NRI from Canada and used the photos of a fair girl as profile pictures, which he had downloaded from the internet, added Atul Kumar Thakur.
The DCP said, “When the girls used to send him their obscene videos and photos, he blackmailed them and also circulated those”. The police officer said that the accused has multiple Instagram IDs and used to keep on making new Instagram IDs so that he would not be traced.
