Rachakonda cops nab cyber stalker who harassed, blackmailed women online

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda cyber crime police, on 9 January, arrested a cyber stalker for harassing women online and sending obscene photos and messages to them through WhatsApp and Instagram.

A case under various sections of the IPC and the IT Act has been registered against Tappetla Bhagavan (21) of Pulaparthi village under Yalamanchili mandal in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh. The police also seized a mobile phone from him.

According to the police, Bhagavan used to send messages to women on various social media platforms. In May 2020, he sent a message to one woman on WhatsApp. Soon, the two became friends. A few days later, they started chatting and talking on video calls on Instagram. Bhagavan had secretly taken screen shots of the victim while they were on video call.

He used the chat messages and the screenshots to blackmail her and asked her to make nude video calls. He threatened to share the photos and chat with her parents and friends if she refused. Scared, the victim agreed. In the meantime, Bhagavan recorded the victim while she was naked on video call on his mobile phone. Later, he started harassing and abusing her. He demanded she talk to him regularly and threatened to upload her videos if she didn't.

Based on technical evidence and other credible information, the police arrested Bhagavan on Saturday and sent him to judicial custody. The police said that he had earlier been arrested for a similar offence in Yelamanchili town police station in Visakhapatnam.