Gujarat man arrested for sending obscene messages to Mumbai woman

A 33-year-old man from Gujarat was arrested for sending obscene messages to a 30-year-old woman from Govandi (East) and sexually harassing her.

The Govandi police were after him since eight months. They found that the accused, Firoz Baluch, a businessman from Veraval, a village in Gir Somnath, Gujarat, would save random numbers on his phone and would check their display pictures (DP) on messaging app WhatsApp. Once he found any DP attractive, he would start sending them explicit messages and harass them. Baluch was arrested on June 5.

The complainant said in her statement she started receiving messages from an unknown number since the first week of October, 2017. Initially, she replied to the messages, but later stopped replying. Following this, Baluch started abusing her and sending her obscene videos and messages that disturbed her.

Finally, the woman lodged the case against an unknown person with the Govandi police on October 29, 2017, under sections of 354 (A), 354 (D) and 509 of the Indian Penal Code and 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act.

During the investigation, the police traced down the number to one Altaf Hala. “Hala told us that he had lost his SIM card. When we checked the WhatsApp status of the same number and found that the user of the number was online, which proved Hala was not lying,” said Suraj Gaikwad, sub-inspector.

Gaikwad further said the accused would use the card to only chat with girls and friends. “We got the first clue when we learnt that he used the same number to call a photocopy shop owner for some work. When the police questioned the owner in Veraval, Gujarat, he said the number belongs to Baluch, who stayed nearby. Baluch was then arrested on June 5, from Veraval, and was brought to Mumbai,” added Gaikwad.

Baluch told the police that he found the SIM card on the road and used it for internet surfing and chatting. “When he was asked how he got the number of the woman, he claimed that he used to save random numbers on his mobile phone. Then he used to see the DP of the number owners on the WhatsApp. Once he found any DP attractive, he would send them messages,” said Gaikwad.

“He was produced in a local court which released him on bail the next day,” said Shashikant Pawar, inspector.