The Dahisar police have arrested a 25-year-old security guard from Bengaluru who allegedly created thousands of fake Instagram profiles of women, morphing their images into obscene content and sexually exploiting them using blackmail. The accused, Shubham Kumar Manoj Prasad Singh, is originally from Bhagalpur in Bihar.

According to the police, Singh created over 100 ‘Gmail’ accounts and used these to open thousands of fake Instagram profiles of women who had either ignored his friend requests or refused to engage in conversation. He then morphed their photos with pornographic images and shared them on social media, making the women seem like sex workers and listing fake services and rates.

When his victims pleaded for the obscene profiles to be deleted, Singh allegedly demanded virtual sex or nude images via video calls in return. In several cases, the women, feeling humiliated and under pressure, complied with his demands.