Bulli Bai app case: Mumbai police arrests fourth accused from Odisha

This picture has been used for representational purpose

The Mumbai police on Thursday arrested one more suspect from Odisha in the Bulli Bai app case.

"The accused, Neeraj Singh (28), was arrested from Odisha by Mumbai Police cyber cell," a crime branch official told mid-day.

Vishal Jha, Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawal were earlier arrested by the Mumbai Police from different states.

The Delhi Police has also arrested a few persons in connection with the Bulli Bai matter.

Both the Mumbai and the Delhi Police are probing the matter.

On January 4, the police arrested Shweta Singh, a resident of Uttrakhand. She was the second and Mayank Rawal was the third person arrested in connection with the controversy.

Apart from the Mumbai Police, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police which was conducting a parallel probe, has also made two arrests.

The special cell arrested Neeraj Bishnoi, the main accused in the case and Aumkareshwar Thakur the main accused behind Sulli Deal.

On January 1, the Bulli Bai app posted photos of several women of a particular religion including journalists, social workers, students and famous personalities. It happened six months after the controversy of Sulli Deals.

Jha was one of the followers of Bulli Bai which led the police to team.

Github which provided space to Sulli Deals, hosted the Bulli Bai app too. However, Github had later removed the user from its hosting platform.

But by then Bulli Bai had sparked a controversy nationwide.

The Bulli Bai app was also being promoted by a Twitter handle with the name @bullibai, with the display picture of a Khalistani supporter.

This Twitter handle claimed that women can be booked from the app and was also promoting Khalistani content.

Singh is originally from Odisha and was detained from there only.Mumbai police is seeking his transit remand today.

Crime branch official told,"The accused, Neeraj Singh, was arrested from Odisha by a team of Mumbai Police cyber cell."

Earlier in this case, 21-year-old Neeraj Bishnoi, the creator of the app, was arrested by the Delhi Police. At the same time, the Cyber Cell of Mumbai Police had already arrested Vishal Kumar Jha, Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat. All three were also involved with Neeraj in this matter.

The Bulli Bai app, which uploads images of Muslim women to auctions, was created in November last year and was updated in December. Hundreds of Muslim women's names were put up for "auction" on the Bulli Bai app and their photographs were put up without permission. Photos were also tampered with.

(With inputs from agencies)