Delhi: Man held for creating fake social media account to defame his past employee, harasses her

The Delhi Police arrested a 37-year-old man for allegedly creating a fake social media account using his former employee’s photograph to harass and defame her online after she demanded her pending salary from him, police said on Saturday.

Md Sahid, a resident of Bihar’s Madhubani, was held from Haryana’s Manesar, police said, adding that a smartphone used in the commission of the crime was recovered from his possession.

“On September 23, a complaint was received from a woman alleging that an unknown person had created a fake social media profile using her photo as the display picture. The profile was allegedly used to post obscene and derogatory content and to send follow requests to her friends and followers, with the intent to malign her reputation,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel said.

A case under relevant sections of the BNS was registered and an investigation was taken up.

During the probe, police analysed the digital footprint of the fake account and sought details from social media platforms. Investigation revealed that the account was being operated from Haryana’s IMT Manesar area.

Police conducted multiple raids in the Manesar region and apprehended the accused on October 27, police said.

“During interrogation, Sahid confessed to the crime. He disclosed that the victim was his former employee who had demanded her pending salary. Annoyed over this, he created a fake ‘Instagram’ profile using her old photograph and uploaded obscene content to defame her,” the DCP said.

Police said the fake social media account was found active on the smartphone recovered from his possession.

Sahid, educated up to intermediate level, works in a small factory unit in Manesar, police said.

His digital devices are being examined to ascertain whether he was involved in similar offences, police added.