The Mumbai cyber police investigating the Bulli Bai App case claimed that the three arrested accused used Proton Mail to conceal their identities. Meanwhile, the custody of Uttarakhand-based student Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat, who were produced before the court on Monday, has been extended by four days. Vishal Kumar Jha, who was the first to be arrested in the case, is at a quarantine centre in Kalina as he has tested positive for Covid.
While seeking extension for their custody, the police claimed that all three were handling eight to 10 twitter handles created to propagate the app. The accused were using Proton Mail, which provides a proxy IP address; the accused used this service to conceal their internet footprints, the police said. Four mobile phones along with a laptop have been recovered from them, wherein each phone has data of up to 64-128 GB.
The trio had reportedly confessed that they have been following the instructions of app creator Neeraj Bishnoi, who is in the custody of the Delhi police.
Shweta Singh’s sister Manisha, however, said her sibling has been falsely implicated and that she has been depressed ever since they lost their father to Covid in May last year. “She has also undergone treatment for eyes and was not able to watch TV, work on her laptop or even see her mobile for too long. We are also not financially sound. How can a teenage girl with such conditions be involved in this hate crime,” she said.
Jha’s advocate Shivam Deshmukh also denied his client’s involvement. He said he just followed the app, which is not a crime. Advocate Sandeep D Sherkhane representing Rawat said he is a young boy and a college topper. He had just followed a link which was forwarded to him on social media, he said.
