UP man held by Gujarat cops uploaded videos of women bathers in Maha Kumbh

Ahmedabad: One of the three persons arrested by Gujarat police's Cyber Crime Branch for allegedly uploading videos of women being medically examined in hospitals had also done the same with clips of women pilgrims bathing during Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, a police official said on Friday.

Chandra Prakash, a resident of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, had started a YouTube channel named 'CP Monda' a few months ago and uploaded videos of women pilgrims bathing at the ongoing Mahakumbh, Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Deputy Commissioner of Police Lavina Sinha told reporters.

Chandra Prakash was held from Prayagaj on Wednesday along with Prajwal Taili and Praj Patil from Latur and Sangli in Maharashtra for uploading objectionable videos of women patients, including from a Rajkot based hospital, with aim of making money from subscribers on Telegram app.

"While Taili and Patil had acquired the videos of women patients from hackers, Chandra Prakash had downloaded the videos from other YouTube channels and uploaded them on his channel recently. We are probing if he too had intention of selling these videos. The duo from Maharashtra are not linked to Prakash," Sinha said.

"Taili and Praj knew each other as they have cleared Class 12 and were preparing for NEET in Latur. The three accused have been remanded in police custody till March 1," Sinha informed.

In the videos, which appeared to be from CCTV footage, women patients could be seen being examined inside a closed room of a hospital by a female doctor or being given injection by a nurse.

A police probe found the viral videos were part of CCTV footage of Rajkot-based Payal Maternity Home.

Some hackers breached the hospital's CCTV system and acquired the footage, as per police.

Later, Taili and Praj Patil acquired these footage and shared them on their YouTube channels, with the description carrying a link to a Telegram group.

"Using Telegram, the duo used to sell these clips for Rs 800 to Rs 2000 each. Both had made Rs 8 to 9 lakh in 7-8 months by selling such obscene clips online. We found nearly 2,000 clips, including of public places, from their devices," said Sinha.