Kolkata grocer opens actor’s fake social media profiles, held

KOLKATA: The cyber cell of Kolkata Police nabbed a grocer for allegedly opening fake social media accounts of a leading Bengali actor and using filthy and objectionable language against her. The police identified the accused as Mukesh Kumar Sahu, a resident of Garfa. Besides the IT Act, the police slapped IPC Section 354D (stalking) on Sahu.
“We received a complaint from the actor on May 30 and arrested the accused on the basis of technical evidence. She informed us that fake profiles were created both on Facebook and Instagram. The accused runs a grocery store in the Survey Park area,” said a senior police officer at Lalbazar.
Police sources said that the actor, who acted in several Bengali films, lodged the complaint with the detective department after consultation with senior police officers.
“The accused was produced in court and we got his custody till July 20. We will question him on his motive and find whether he is a repeat offender,” said a senior police officer.
Recently, Facebook took steps to clamp down on fake profiles and other social media giants are likely to follow the same.
Many people try to create fake accounts in large volumes automatically using scripts or bots, with the intention of spreading spam or conducting illicit activities, a recent Facebook report has said. “The decrease in fake accounts disabled is largely due to this variation,” it added.