New Delhi: A Delhi Court on March 28, has granted Bail to creators of ‘Bulli Bai’ and ‘Sulli Deals’ app creators Aumkareshwar Thakur and Niraj Bishnoi, an official said. Deputy Commissioner of Police KPS Malhotra told IANS that the main grounds on which bail to the two accused being granted was that the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) results and replies from intermediaries were still awaited.
The apps targeted and defamed women belonging to Muslim Community.
“The trial court had relied upon the evidence against the accused persons and no shortcoming in the investigation was pointed out,” Malhotra said.
The bail was granted by Court on humanitarian grounds. It was considered that the two were first time offenders, and imprisonment can prove to be harmful for their wellbeing.
Thakur on January 8, was apprehended by the Delhi Police. He is a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. In July 2021, ‘Sulli Deals’ app had surfaced. On the app photos of Muslim Women were displayed for ‘auction.’ Under section 354-A (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, the Delhi Police Cyber Crime Unit had registered an FIR, on July 8.
In January 2022, ‘Bulli Bai’ app came to limelight, when a police complaint was lodged by a Delhi-based female journalist stating that she was being targeted by an unidentified group of people on a mobile application. The app was hosted on Github.
‘Bulli Bai’ too had a number of pictures of women, including journalists, social workers, students and famous personalities. The app listed hundreds of Muslim women for “auction”.
Bulli Bai app creator Niraj was arrested on January 6. On being interrogated, police got to know that he interacted with various virtual identities on social media. He was engaged in many group discussions. In July 2021, in one of the groups in which Niraj was a member, another group member shared the details of the ‘Sulli Deals.’ That was the first time Bishnoi or other group members had heard about the app.
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