Cuttack, Sept. 18: The crime branch today arrested a person for allegedly defaming and causing mental harassment to a couple by putting their personal details on pornographic sites and also creating a fake profile of the woman on a wife-swapping website.
The crime branch arrested the suspect Jayanta Dash, 47, from Sidha Mahavir Patna early this morning. The crime branch also seized the computer, hard disc and the modem used in the crime.
Police sources said the accused used to work with the Indian Army and had retired from service 10 years ago.
Crime branch officials said Dash, who is a businessman, had posted the mobile number, address and private information of the woman on a pornographic and wife-swapping website, after which the victim started receiving calls from various persons asking details about her. Earlier, her husband, a Puri-based journalist, lodged a complaint with the Baseli Sahi police station in March after the couple received several phone calls from abroad last year. Puri police sources said that as they lacked the expertise in dealing with cyber related crimes, the crime branch took over the case in August.
“Since December we have been receiving several phone calls and at the same time I came to know that a number of derogatory messages have been sent by Dash through fake email accounts created in our names. Later, I lodged an FIR with the Baseli Sahi police station,” said the husband.
He also alleged that Dash wanted to take revenge as he had reported money laundering by Dash in newspapers. The accused has been arrested under sections 292, 465, 469 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66(C) and 67 (a) of the Information Technology Act.
“There was personal enmity between the accused and the victim’s husband. The accused had uploaded the information only to take revenge. We have collected ample technical and scientific evidence against the accused was been produced before the Puri court today,” said additional director-general of police (crime branch) B.K. Sharma. According to Sharma, the accused was nabbed following a detailed investigation.
The Crime branch’s cyber cell traced the Internet protocol address and found the modem to have been used in Puri. The modem had been bought in the name of Dash’s wife. However, the accused rebuffed the allegations and said that it was a conspiracy against him. “This is a ploy by the complainant to frame me,” said Dash while being arrested by the crime branch. Though cyber-related crimes have been on the rise in the state, lack of awareness about the cyber laws generally acts as a deterrent for people while lodging complaints with the police.
Cyber experts believe that the cyber intelligence wing of the police matter while investigating such crimes, which are technically called cyber defamation. Cyber expert Amiya Mishra said if police officers across the state were equipped with the knowledge of the cyber rules and the technology to deal with such crimes, they would be able to handle the growing number of such cases properly.
High court lawyer Saswati Mohapatra said Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, which provides for punishment for violation of privacy, must be implemented in a more effective manner. The section prescribes imprisonment up to three years or a fine of Rs 2 lakh, or both, to anyone who intentionally captures, publishes or electronically transmits the naked or semi-naked image of any person, without his or her consent.
