Madhya Pradesh police have arrested two youths for sending obscene messages and videos to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a member of Parliament from Bhopal, reports Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar. The youths have been detained from Sikri in Bharatpur, Rajasthan and are being brought to Bhopal on transit remand.
It is a case of cybercrime, said Bharatpur IG Prasanna Kumar Khamesra, adding that the suspects were apprehended in Rajasthan and handed over to the Madhya Pradesh Police. About 8 days ago, the MP had filed an FIR in TT Nagar, Bhopal, alleging conspiracy to defame her and spoil her image.
The police said that though the accused Raveen (23) and his brother Waris (21) are uneducated, they specialise in carrying out cybercrime. On Monday afternoon, Bhopal Sub Inspector Devendra Sahu and his team arrived at Sikri police station. The cyber cell was deployed to track down both the accused. The police were aware of the accused’s movements based on phone records. At around 3 pm, police from Bhopal and Sikri arrived at Chanda Ka Bas Banni hamlet and detained the duo.
Pragya Thakur had filed a complaint with the city police on February 7, alleging that she is a victim of an ongoing nude video call blackmailing racket that has victimized a number of people across the country. Thakur claimed she received a video call on her WhatsApp on February 6 at 7 pm. According to her complaint, a woman who video called her took off her clothes, after which the MP disconnected the call.
Thakur went on to say that after some time, she received a call from a different number demanding ransom and threatening to make the video of the MP’s conversation with the girl go public if she did not pay the money. She claimed that the online group used the ‘nude video call’ tactic to try to extort money from her.
Following the incident, the BJP MP informed the TT Nagar police in Bhopal saying that the call and videos were part of a conspiracy to defame her and spoil her image.
Police had registered a case against the accused under the Indian Penal Code’s sections 354 (sexual harassment), 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication), and 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
