Mumbai fake casting director arrested for demanding sexual favours from actress

Omprakash Tiwari was arrested by the cyber cell of the Malad Police from Titwala in the neighbouring Thane district on Saturday night.

MUMBAI: A 24-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly posed as a casting director and demanded sexual favours from a Kolkata woman, who claims to have acted in a few Bengali films, promising her a role in a web series, a Mumbai police official said on Tuesday. The accused, identified as Omprakash Tiwari, had earlier worked with a production house and thus knew the casting process for actors. He falsely claimed on social media that he runs a production house in Mumbai, the official added.

Tiwari was arrested by the cyber cell of the Malad Police from Titwala in the neighbouring Thane district on Saturday night. The complainant told the Mumbai Police that Tiwari threatened to circulate her private pictures on social media if she refused his sexual demands, the official said.

"The victim met the accused who posed as a casting director on a social media platform. He offered her a role in web series and asked her to send her private photos. After she sent the photos, Tiwari started to threaten her saying he would post them online if she failed to oblige his demands," the official added. Malad police station senior inspector Dhananjay Ligade said the accused had earlier worked with a production house and thus knew the casting process. "He did not run any production house".

Tiwari was booked under sections 354-A (Sexual harassment) and 354-D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act, he said, adding that further investigation is underway.