KOCHI: Kochi City Police have sought the freezing of the bank account allegedly used by Saneesh, the second accused arrested in the Bharat Mata College morphing case, to collect money from members of a Telegram group through which obscene images were circulated.
Police have written to the bank to freeze the account, into which payments were allegedly made by members seeking access to the 'Mallu Premium Demo' Telegram group. Membership was offered for Rs 250, with subscribers allegedly promised access to pornographic images.
According to investigators, Saneesh circulated photographs of girls and invited people to join the group on payment. Police had earlier suspected financial gain as one of the motives behind the creation and circulation of the morphed images, and Saneesh's arrest has provided further evidence to support the finding.
Saneesh allegedly shared images originally circulated by Sreehari, a Bharat Mata College student and the first accused arrested in the case.
Investigators suspect the accused operated the Telegram group believing that the platform would make it difficult for them to be traced. The police are probing the group’s membership and the identities of those involved in circulating and accessing the images. The group has since been deleted, and efforts are under way to recover it and retrieve details of its members and transactions. The financial trail is also being examined to identify others who may have been involved in the operation.