'Bulli Bai': Mumbai court denies bail to three accused; fourth suspect from Odisha arrested

A Mumbai court on Thursday rejected bail pleas of three students arrested in connection with a case pertaining to the ‘Bulli Bai’ app, which targeted Muslim women by putting up their images online for “auction”. Meanwhile, the cyber police of the Mumbai crime branch on Thursday arrested a 28-year-old man from Odisha in connection with the case. The accused, identified as Neeraj Singh, is an MBA degree holder. He was involved in the planning of the app with the main accused, police said. Singh is being brought to Mumbai and will be produced in a court here, police said. Singh being nabbed the police brings the tally of those arrested in the case to four. Earlier, Shweta Singh (18) and Mayank Rawal (21) were arrested from Uttarakhand, while engineering student Vishal Kumar Jha (21) was held from Bengaluru. Singh (18) and Rawat (21) were arrested by the Mumbai police’s cyber cell from Uttarakhand on 5 January, while Jha was nabbed from Bengaluru on 4 January. They were denied bail by a metropolitan magistrate in suburban Bandra. A detailed order was not yet available. Earlier, the police had opposed their bail claiming the accused use names belonging to the Sikh community for their social media accounts with an intention to breach peace in the society and create animosity among religious groups. The police have told the court that all the three accused were operating multiple social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Gmail. The cyber cell has said many of the accounts were deleted or suspended for posting defamatory content and information regarding the same is yet to be procured. The Mumbai police registered an FIR in the case following complaints made by several women, who were targeted by the ‘Bulli Bai’ app. The app made public the details of several Muslim women, allowing users to participate in their ‘auction’. Meanwhile, two more persons - Niraj Bishnoi and Omkareshwar Thakur - who had been arrested by the Delhi police, were on Thursday brought to Mumbai by the city police’s cyber cell on transit remand for questioning in the case. Bishnoi had been arrested in another Bulli Bai app case lodged by the Delhi police, while Thakur had been apprehended in the ‘Sulli’ deals app matter. The Delhi police’s special cell, which nabbed Bishnoi from Assam, has claimed he was the main creator of the Bulli Bai app. Police have claimed the accused arrested in the Bulli Bai app case were also active in the ‘Sulli’ deals app which came to light in July 2021. The ‘Sulli’ deals app had triggered widespread outrage as it had put out details of more than 100 prominent Muslim women, allowing users to participate in their ‘‘auction’’. Bishnoi and Thakur were produced before the Bandra magistrate court, which remanded them in police custody till 27 January. With inputs from PTI Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.