Google analyst held for posting nude pics of women on Instagram

New Delhi, March 1 (IANS) A 33-year-old man was arrested for allegedly creating fake Instagram accounts and posting nude images of women on it, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Mohit Sharma, a resident of Noida, UP, holds a B.Tech Degree in Mechanical Engineering and also a post graduation in Business Management. He was working with Google as Market Research Analyst, Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police informed.

DCP (IFSO) K P S Malhotra told IANS that a woman had lodged complaint in 2020 stating that someone created fake Instagram account with username Archudnes and posted naked pictures of her.

Based on her complaint, the police registered a case under section 67 of the IT Act and investigation was taken up.

During investigation, digital footprints were collected from Instagram and Hotmail which provided the IP addresses of the alleged user at the time of offence.

The IP addresses of the alleged Instagram account and the Hotmail ID linked with it were found to be linked with an Airtel broadband WiFi connection installed at the residence of the accused in Noida.

"The suspect was examined but he denied his involvement and claimed that his WiFi was hacked by someone and he has given a complaint in this regard," the DCP said.

The police then seized the laptop and mobile phones of the suspect and sent it for forensic analysis. "As per the analysis, thousands of obscene images of women including the images relevant in the case were found in the extracted data from the laptop being used by accused Mohit," the official said, adding that the accused was then arrested on February 25.

During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused posed as a female Russian magazine editor and duped women into sharing their nude pictures without showing their faces. The accused used to later send those pictures to her Instagram account demanding more such pictures.

"The accused had also sent those pictures to some of her friends and relatives, including minors," said the official.

The accused then threatened to make more explicit photos of the victim public, unless the victim shared more obscene photos of themselves privately with him, thus trapping them in a vicious cycle.

Further investigation is in progress, the official added.