A 35-year-old man, resident of Ballia district, has been arrested by a team of women power line (WPL) 1090 for allegedly making obscene video calls to 370 women across 15 districts and blackmailing them. The accused, Shiv Kumar Verma, a graduate, has been arrested from his stationary shop in the Garhwar police station area of Ballia. Police officials said that Verma used seven mobile phones, each with different numbers, to harass women. He used to later destroy the SIM cards and handsets.

The police said he would type random numbers and check their registration on the `True Caller` app. He then would save the numbers registered in the name of women and make video calls via WhatsApp during odd hours, police said. "He used to undress and start a conversation using a video screen recorder. Before the women could understand and snap the call, he used to shoot it. Women who used to snap the call were harassed repeatedly. Those who said they would complain, were blackmailed that the screen video recording would be sent to their in-laws and husband. As a result, many victims did not report the matter to any authority and changed their phone numbers," said the officer.