22-yr-old harasses 82 women, held

Ghaziabad: A 22-year-old youth was arrested by the cyber cell of Ghaziabad on Sunday for allegedly harassing 82 women by sending them ‘obscene’ content on WhatsApp.
The matter came to light when a 26-year-old womanfrom Indirapuram lodged an online complaint against the man. According to police, the accused has been identified as Sonu Chaudhary, a resident of Ghaziabad who sells coconut water in Indirapuram.
Abhay Mishra, circle officer, Indirapuram, and in-charge of cyber cell, said that in April this year, when the second wave of Covid hit, the man posted his contact number for business near Indirapuram area.
“The 26-year-old woman had contacted him to deliver four coconuts for her father who was a Covid patient,” Mishra said.
“After two days, Sonu bought a SIM card after submitting documents of his grandfather, who died five years ago. He then made a WhatsApp call to the woman. He disconnected the call after he got to know her name. Then he started sending her objectionable videos. He also made video calls to her where he could be seen in objectionable positions,” the officer said.
He would take screenshots of video chats and blackmail the woman, police said.
In May, the woman had made an online complaint with police. Later, the complaint was transferred to the cyber cell and an investigation started. When the cyber team traced the phone number, it was found that it belonged to a man who had died. With help of surveillance, police traced the location in Indirapuram.
Cyber cell recovered the phone and found the details of 82 women on it. Police said the youth harassed all of them. “Sonu has been booked under relevant sections of the IT Act. He will be produced in court on Monday,” an officer said.