'Sulli Deals' app mastermind arrested from Indore

The derogatory 'Sulli Deals' app had surfaced in July last year where photos of Muslim women were displayed without their consent to 'auction' them

Delhi Police on Sunday claimed to have arrested the 26-year-old creator of the 'Sulli Deals' app from Madhya Pradesh's Indore, based on the information provided by a second-year engineering student nabbed in connection with a similar 'Bulli Bai' app.

This is the first arrest in the 'Sulli Deals' app case, which surfaced in June-July last year. The arrested youth, a Bachelor of Computer Applications degree holder from IPS Academy, is claimed to have got the idea from a 'trad' group on Twitter 'Trad Mahasabha', which follows traditional and rightwing ideas.

Both the apps created in a span of six-seven months posted derogatory pictures of over 100 Muslim women and conducted online auctions.

Aumkareshwar Thakur, a resident of Newyork city Township in Indore, was apprehended by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police's Special Cell.

Also Read | My son is being framed, says father of 'Sulli Deals' app creator nabbed by Delhi Police

Special Cell DCP (IFSO) KPS Malhotra claimed that Thakur confessed that he had created Sulli Deal app. The necessary digital footprints in his laptop and in cyberspace are being probed, he said.

Thakur's arrest came after the inputs provided by Neeraj Bishnoi, residing in Assam's Jorhat who is studying in an engineering college in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal who was arrested on January 6 in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' app.

Bishnoi allegedly told interrogators that he used to interact with various virtual identities on social media and used to engage in group discussions. In July last year, Malhotra said a group member shared details about 'Sulli Deals' in a group.

"That was the first time Bishnoi or other group members had heard about the 'Sulli Deals' app on GitHub. The Twitter handle was deleted and it was learnt that after the 'Sulli Deals' uproar, the said Twitter handle and other footprints were erased from various social media platforms... Bishnoi further said the Twitter handle belongs to a person who stays in Indore," Malhotra said.

Also Read | 'Sulli Deals' maker deleted social media footprints to avoid arrest: Police

After technical analysis, a team of investigators went to Indore where Thakur was arrested. During interrogation, Malhotra claimed that he confessed that he had created the 'Sulli Deals' app. The necessary digital footprints in his laptop and in cyberspace are being probed.

He also told the interrogators he was a member of a 'trad group' on Twitter and the idea was shared to defame and troll Muslim women. "He had developed the code on GitHub. The access of GitHub was with all the members of the group. He had shared the App on his Twitter account. The photos of Muslim women were uploaded by the group members," Malhotra said.

Further analysis of the technical gadgets is underway to recover the codes and images related to the 'Sulli Deals' app, he added.

Akhilesh Thakur, the father of Aumkareshwar, said his son was being framed in the case. He told reporters in Indore that he does not know anything about the App concerned and after his son got the BCA degree in 2018, he started web-designing work from home, PTI reported.

"I have come to know that on the basis of just one person's statement, my son, who is an IT specialist, has been arrested and taken to Delhi. My son is being framed and defamed," the father claimed.

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