The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch has registered nine cases in a month and arrested eight people, including one woman, over alleged online harassment, blackmail and the circulation of manipulated content targeting women, Nav Gujarat Samay reported. Police have also initiated legal action against three minors alleged to have created fake social-media accounts and altered Garba videos.
The arrests were made under Mission Cyber Rakshika, an initiative focused on improving women’s safety online. According to the report, investigators traced suspects across different districts of Gujarat and into Maharashtra. The alleged offences involved fake Instagram and Facebook accounts, manipulated photographs and videos, obscene material, defamatory posts and threats intended to damage victims’ social and personal relationships.
In several cases, the suspects allegedly used videos of women performing Garba during Navratri. The videos were edited and posted on Instagram with abusive or objectionable text. Police said some accused persons used the content to increase followers and likes, while other cases were linked to personal disputes or failed relationships.
The reported cases also involved fake accounts created in women’s names. Through those accounts, alleged offenders sent obscene material to the victims’ relatives, friends and fiancés. The stated aim was to damage the women’s reputations and, in one case, to disrupt an engagement.
In one reported incident, a Class 12 pass accused allegedly sent obscene content involving a woman to her fiancé without her knowledge. In another, a woman was allegedly targeted with a false social-media post claiming that she had an intimate relationship with another person. The post was reportedly linked to retaliation after an earlier dispute over a vehicle collision. Another fake Facebook account allegedly carried objectionable text and a demand for money in the woman’s name.
The report also described a case involving alleged coercion and extortion. A suspect who contacted a woman through Instagram allegedly pressured her to have a physical relationship. After she refused, he allegedly threatened to defame her and demanded Rs 2 lakh. He later allegedly collected Rs 1.21 lakh by claiming that he regretted his conduct and needed money for a religious ritual. The reported amount included a Rs 21,000 Google Pay transfer and Rs 1 lakh withdrawn from an ATM in Prahladnagar.
Police also took action against three minors from Sabarkantha and Bhavnagar who allegedly used their parents’ mobile numbers to create fake social-media accounts. The accounts were reportedly used to obtain videos of women performing Garba, alter them and circulate the edited material.
The Cyber Crime Branch provided counselling to victims with the assistance of women officers, the report said. Police registered cases while keeping the identities of the women confidential. The action reflects the difficulty of addressing online abuse once manipulated content is circulated through multiple accounts, particularly when offenders use familiar social settings, personal relationships and locally identifiable videos to target victims.
The police response, as reported, is aimed at taking action against people harassing women online and improving public confidence in digital safety. The investigation and legal proceedings in the reported cases are continuing.
