Short film director arrested for harassing singer, creating fake profiles in her name

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda cyber crime sleuths on Friday arrested a short film director for harassing a woman, a famous playback singer in the Telugu film industry, by creating a fake social media accounts using her credentials.

A case under various sections of the IPC and IT Act has been registered against Medikayala Naveen Kumar (34) of Bengaluru

According to the victim's father, the man had launched a film production company in her name and used her photos to create the company logo. He had also created fake accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube using her name and photos. Naveen had been harassing the singer for a year, forcing her to give her consent for his business.

The police found that Naveen had seen the victim in an interview and had also joined her Facebook fan page. Later, he started a YouTube channel in her name and after a week, launched a film production company and made web series, songs, and short films. He planned to make a movie, too.

When the victim came to know of his activities, she urged him to stop but he refused and instead forced her to give an NOC to continue his business. He also warned her and asked her not to interfere in his activities. Later, he released short films on YouTube with derogatory content, causing inconvenience and mental agony to the woman, the police said.

Naveen was arrested on Friday and produced before the court.