In a disturbing case of digital sexual exploitation, a security guard has been arrested from Bengaluru, Karnataka, for allegedly blackmailing multiple women using morphed obscene images posted from fake Instagram accounts.
The accused has been identified as 25-year-old Shubham Kumar Manoj Prasad Singh, who is originally from Bhagalpur in Bihar.
He allegedly created thousands of fake accounts using morphed pornographic images of women who either ignored his friend requests or refused to engage in conversation. Singh then coerced his victims into engaging in virtual sex or nude images via video calls in exchange for deleting the fake profiles.
The incident came to light when one of the women, a 19-year-old BSc student from a reputed college in Kandivli East, Mumbai, filed a complaint after noticing explicit content on a fake profile that closely resembled her, including morphed photos and personal information. The Dahisar police arrested him after tracing his location with the help of Instagram and Facebook nodal officers.
Singh was earlier pursuing a diploma in Information Technology, but couldn’t complete his course due to personal reasons. However, he leveraged his skills for criminal activity.
“Singh moved to Bengaluru in search of work. Failing to secure an IT job, he began working as a security guard in an industrial company, while secretly carrying out these crimes,” said an officer from the Dahisar police station.
