Mumbai, Oct 19 Maharashtra Cyber has arrested a 34-year-old Bengaluru man for allegedly stalking and harassing a female stand-up comedian through multiple Instagram accounts, police officials said on Monday.
The accused has been identified by police as Phannendra Balkrishna Pamarti.
According to Maharashtra Cyber, the nodal agency took swift cognisance of a complaint lodged by the comedian, who gained popularity following her appearance as a participant and subsequent panellist on a comedy talent show.
In the complaint, the comedian reported persistent online harassment by an individual who used multiple Instagram accounts to bombard her with unsolicited messages of a romantic nature despite her clear disinterest.
Authorities noted that the repeated intrusions severely compromised her personal privacy, said the anti-cybercrime agency.
Acting on the complaint, the Cyber Police Station in Mumbai registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections related to stalking, insulting a woman’s privacy, and criminal intimidation and also section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act (punishment for publishing or transmitting of obscene material in electronic form).
Deploying advanced cyber-forensic tools, investigators issued notices to Instagram to obtain account details and analysed Internet Protocol (IP) logs to track down the origin of the digital communications, said police.
Following his identification, Pamarti was traced to Bengaluru, summoned for questioning and later placed under arrest, Maharashtra Cyber said in a release.
(PTI News)
