'Bulli Bai' scam: Woman, touted as mastermind behind app, detained by Mumbai Police in Uttarakhand

Pic courtesy: Pixabay

Mumbai: Mumbai police, on Tuesday (January 4), detained a woman in Uttarakhand believed to be the mastermind behind the 'Bulli Bai' app, an app targetting Muslim women. "A woman has been detained by the cyber cell of Mumbai Police in Uttarakhand. Seems like is the main mastermind behind the app. She will be presented before a court in Uttarakhand for transit remand. After obtaining the transit remand, she will be brought to Mumbai," said a police official.

This app comes after nearly six months after a derogatory 'Sulli Deals' site that allegedly uploaded photos of women for auction without their consent surfaced on the hosting platform ‘GITHUB’. 

Tuesday's arrest comes after, a 21-year-old civil engineering student, Vishal Kumar was arrested by Mumbai Police on Tuesday after questioning for several hours."The detained woman and the arrested man became friends via social media site - Instagram. The racket behind the app includes many more people," said the official. "Vishal changed his name on December 31. He took up a name related to the Sikh community," the official added.

Vishal was detained from Bengaluru and was brought for questioning to Mumbai. Mumbai Police on Monday filed a first information report (FIR) against unknown persons based on complaints that doctored photographs of women were uploaded for auction on the 'Bulli Bai' application hosted on the GitHub platform. On Sunday, West Mumbai Cyber Police station registered a case against the 'Bulli Bai' app developers and Twitter handles that promoted the app.

Vishal was later today produced at Bandra court in Mumbai. Watch:

#WATCH 'Bulli Bai' app case accused Vishal Kumar produced before Mumbai's Bandra Court pic.twitter.com/YhyAZjkLng

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2022

Meanwhile, the case was registered against the unknown culprits under sections 153(A) (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc), 153(B) (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295(A) (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 354D (stalking), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of Information Technology Act. 

The controversy surrounding the 'Bulli Bai' popped up on January 1 after some influential women active on the social media, especially from the Muslim community, complained that their doctored photos were uploaded for sale online on the Github hosting platform. The investigation conducted by the Cyber cell of Mumbai and Delhi Police found that hundreds of Muslim women were listed for "auction" on the app with photographs sourced without permission and doctored. 

(With ANI inputs)