Ahmedabad/New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a man from Delhi, Sumit Sharma, was arrested by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch for allegedly creating multiple fake social media accounts in a woman’s name and uploading AI-generated morphed nude photographs and videos of her and her mother, police said on Thursday.
The case was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under Sections 78(2) and 356(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66(C) and 67 of the Information Technology Act after the victim approached police with a complaint of online stalking, impersonation and harassment.
According to investigators, the complainant was associated with the ISKCON Hare Krishna sect and had first come in contact with Sumit Sharma through Instagram, where he allegedly initiated conversations on religious topics.
Police said 27-year-old Sumit Sharma from New Delhi was engaged in ritual-related work and also uploaded religious discourse videos on various social media platforms.
According to the complaint filed with the police, an unidentified person allegedly stalked the complainant through the Internet between December 2025 and April 6 and created three fake Instagram accounts in her name.
Police said Sumit Sharma used the complainant’s photographs as profile pictures on the fake Instagram accounts and also created a YouTube channel in her name using her image as the display photograph.
“The accused uploaded AI-morphed nude photographs and videos of the complainant and her mother on the fake accounts and posted obscene content aimed at mentally harassing the complainant and damaging her reputation in society,” officials said.
Officials further said the action was taken under ‘Mission Cyber Rakshika: #SecureHerSpace’, an initiative launched to protect women from cyber offences and spread awareness regarding cyber security, online harassment, blackmail and digital exploitation.
“The initiative focusses on creating a safer online environment for women by raising awareness against cyber fraud, deepfake profiles, AI-generated morphed images and videos, fake social media accounts and other online crimes,” officials noted.
Sumit Sharma is a resident of Kartar Nagar in North East Delhi and the woman had first come into contact with Sharma through Instagram, where he allegedly initiated conversations on religious topics.
Police said the accused later attempted to befriend the complainant, but she refused.
Following the rejection, the accused allegedly began stalking the complainant online and created fake social media accounts impersonating her.
“He downloaded photographs of the complainant and her mother from her Instagram account and used multiple websites after searching ‘AI Remove Clothes’ on Google to create morphed nude images and videos using Artificial Intelligence tools,” officials said.
Police said the manipulated content was then uploaded on the fake Instagram accounts and YouTube channel along with obscene text intended to defame and mentally harass the complainant.
The Cyber Crime Branch said Police Inspector M.H. Bhetariya and his team used technical analysis and human Intelligence to trace the accused. A police team subsequently travelled to Delhi and arrested him there.
During the investigation, police said they discovered that between eight and 10 fake accounts in the complainant’s name had allegedly been created on platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Investigators also said the accused had allegedly created more than 100 AI-generated morphed photographs of the complainant using different websites.
In its public advisory issued after the arrest, Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch urged citizens to keep their social media profiles private or locked and avoid developing friendships with unknown individuals online.
–IANS
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