BHUBANESWAR: Mumbai Police's Cyber Crime Branch on Thursday arrested an MBA graduate from Jharsuguda in connection with the sensitive Bulli Bai hate app case. A team conducted raid at 28-year-old Neeraj Singh's house in Lamtibahal area at about 4 am and picked him up with assistance of Brajrajnagar police.
The accused and his younger brother Nikesh Singh were whisked away to Brajrajnagar police station for questioning. The Mumbai Police team also took possession of the duo’s mobile phones but later returned the device of Nikesh. "We are taking Neeraj to Mumbai in connection with our investigation in Bulli Bai app case," DCP (Cyber Crime) Dr Rashmi Karandikar told The New Indian Express over phone.
Sources said that Mumbai Police submitted evidence on Neeraj before a Jharsuguda court following which it was allowed to take him on transit remand. He was arrested after his involvement in the case surfaced in course of the probe, they added.
Neeraj, an MBA in HR from a private university in Cuttack, was working with a private firm in New Delhi. He had returned from the national capital after outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. His family members claimed he was not part of the Bulli Bai app.
"My brother was not involved in developing the app, sharing or uploading pictures. He possibly met few members of the app development team after confronting a controversial tweet against a Hindu deity," accused's younger brother Nikesh told The New Indian Express.
He claimed his brother was never part of the Bulli Bai app and instead, member of a Twitter group. "One of the users supported my brother when he confronted a youth who had posted a controversial tweet. The youth who endorsed my brother’s reply then added him to a Twitter group," said Nikesh.
Earlier, Mumbai Police had registered a case after hundreds of Muslim women were put up for 'auction' online through the app. The Odisha native is the fourth accused arrested by Mumbai Police, and the fifth overall. Prime accused, Niraj Bishnoi was arrested by the Delhi Police on January 6 from Jorhat in Assam.