Girish Maheshwari, 36, a resident of Ahmedabad, was arrested July 5, days after he made the threats against the Congress spokesperson’s daughter. (Representational Image)
A man who allegedly tweeted to a Congress spokesperson threatening to sexually assault her minor daughter has told police that he was instigated by a morphed picture of the leader that went viral on social media. Mumbai Police are now searching for the unidentified persons who morphed the picture, which shows the Congress spokesperson’s image with a quote supporting the accused arrested for the gangrape of a minor in Mandsaur.
Girish Maheshwari, 36, a resident of Ahmedabad, was arrested July 5, days after he made the threats against the Congress spokesperson’s daughter. “Maheshwari claimed that he had seen a picture of (the Congress spokesperson) supporting Mandsaur gangrape accused on a social media platform, after which he became furious and made rape threats to her 10-year-old daughter through her official Twitter handle,” said a police officer. The police have seized Maheshwari’s mobile phone and his computer.
According to police, Maheshwari had deactivated his Twitter account immediately after he learnt from media reports that the Congress spokesperson had registered a case against him with both Mumbai and Delhi police. “The media reported that a case had been registered after (the Congress spokesperson) tagged both Mumbai and Delhi police in her tweet, following which he deactivated his account @GirishK1605,” said an officer.
Maheshwari was not surprised when the police team arrived at his doorstep in Bavla district in Ahmedabad, police said. The police said that it was difficult to trace Maheshwari, since he had logged into his Twitter account through his mobile phone. “Every time a person logs into a Twitter account through a mobile phone, a new IP address is generated. So we had at least 26 dynamic IP addresses of the accused. His identity was revealed after we learnt that he had logged into the account through the same number,” said a police officer.
During investigation, the police checked his social media accounts. In one of his accounts, he claims to be a son of a High Court judge while in another, he claimed to be a BJP worker. But police say his claims are hollow and that he is eighth class dropout who worked as an accountant in a food agro company. Maheshwari was produced in court on Tuesday, which remanded him in police custody until July 13.
Meanwhile, the police are now trying to trace the person who allegedly morphed the picture that instigated Maheshwari. The police said that they have booked the unidentified tech-savvy person under Section 66 (C) (punishment for identity theft) of the Information Technology Act. After the morphed picture went viral on social media, the Congress leader started getting hate tweets, said the police.