NEW DELHI, Aug. 3 -- The Cyber Cell of Delhi Police has arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly circulating obscene material and blackmailing a close female relative via social media.
The accused, identified as Prabhat Chaudhary alias Piyush, a resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, was booked under Section 67A of the IT Act. A mobile phone used in the crime has been recovered.
The case came to light after a complaint was lodged at the Cyber Police Station in Northwest Delhi by Priyanshu Mawana, who reported receiving sexually explicit images and videos of his sister from an Instagram account operated by someone known to them. The accused was allegedly threatening to release the content publicly if his demands were not met.
A police team led by Inspector Dinesh Dahiya and supervised by ACP Rajeev Kumar was formed to investigate. Despite an initial failed raid at the accused's registered address, investigators used technical and manual surveillance to trace his digital footprint. Chaudhary, who is a close family member of the complainant, had created multiple Instagram accounts and used tactics such as keeping his phone switched off and utilising Instagram's "View Once" feature to conceal his identity.
He confessed to the offence during interrogation. Although he has no prior criminal record, police are probing whether he was involved in similar acts. The investigation is ongoing.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.