BulliBai 'main conspirator' arrested: Delhi Police
New Delhi: Even as the Mumbai Police continued its investigation into the "BulliBai" app case, the Delhi Police on Thursday revealed that the Special Cell's Cybercrime unit (IFSO) had arrested the "main conspirator" behind the social media attack and harassment of influential Muslim women by morphing their photos and "auctioning them".
The arrest comes within a week of registering an FIR in the matter — but the Delhi Police are yet to make headway in the SulliDeals case — an almost identical application targetting Muslim women — for which an FIR was registered more than six months ago.
Importantly, the police have identified the accused as Neeraj Bishnoi (20), a 2nd year B. Tech student at Vellore Institute of Technology in Bhopal, and said they arrested him from his residence in Digambar, Jorhat, Assam.
Deputy Commissioner of Police IFSO, KPS Malhotra informed on Thursday that Bishnoi had also created the '@bullibai_' Twitter handle, which was among the first few accounts seen advertising the "auction" on social media.
Meanwhile, a source confirmed that Bishnoi had been in Rajasthan and then in Delhi before coming home to Jorhat on December 25, last year.
The senior Delhi Police official also mentioned that after creating the content in the app, he made the Twitter handle and forwarded it to others in the network. "The accused has been brought to Delhi after his arrest. His mobile phone, laptop and other pieces of evidence have been seized. Further, the investigating team found details of the "BulliBai" profiles created on his laptop," Malhotra said.
The DCP also mentioned that after the case was registered at the Cyber Police Station of Southeast Delhi based on a complaint from a journalist with a prominent online news portal, the Twitter accounts were suspended by the microblogging site and the app was also removed from the GitHub platform. With the help of CERTIN, the raw data analysis along with the technical details was undertaken and the suspect was identified to be based in Jorhat, Assam, the police claimed.
Later, a team under the supervision of ACP/IFSO Raman Lamba was constituted to track and apprehend the alleged person. Raids were conducted in Assam's Jorhat, and cops arrested the accused person.
The police further claimed that during interrogation, Bishnoi purportedly confessed to creating the 'BulliBai' app on GitHub. He further created other Twitter handles to spread the content around, they claimed. He also allegedly disclosed that the 'GitHub' app was developed in November 2021 and finally updated in December 2021. The Twitter account was created on December 31, police added.
After continuously monitoring news on the recent developments over the 'BulliBai' he had tweeted that "You have arrested the wrong person, slumbai police," from @giyu44 handle, the accused informed police. This handle is still active on the platform and has a "pinned tweet", in which he appears to post his entire confession — one that matches, at least in part, with the one purportedly given to the Delhi Police.
A police source said the other three people arrested by the Mumbai police in the case — Shweta Singh, Vishal Kumar Jha, and Mayank Rawat — "were just following Bishnoi's instructions. He had managed everything and was guiding them. Shweta, Rawat and Jha were just followers," source said, adding further: "The three others arrested did not give out his name. Bishnoi has been arrested after massive technical surveillance; the IP address used to develop the app was tracked to him."
Meanwhile, police also asserted that all the accused are known to one another. Further investigation is in progress. Significantly, after his arrest, Bishnoi's college, Vellore Institute of Technology in Bhopal, issued a statement, suspending him with immediate effect until further notice.
