Bulli Bai App Case: Defence Argues Accused's Talent Misused By Manipulating Him; Mumbai Police Opposes Bail

The Sulli Deals App was operational on the open-source platform-Github- till July 2021. Just like the Bulli Bai App, pictures of Muslim women with their names and photos were put up for a virtual auction.

The three accused, Shweta Singh (18), Mayak Rawat (21) and Vishal Jha (21) arrested by the Cyber Crime Police (Mumbai) sought bail, stating that they hadn't created the controversial App and had only a limited role in the alleged offence.

Advocates Aarti Deshmukh and Shivam Deshmukh for Rawat argued that all the offences against Jha were punishable with imprisonment up to three years. Advocate Sandip Sherkhane claimed that Rawat's "talent had been misused by manipulating him" and he was falsely implicated.

The primary allegation against the three accused is that they were in contact with each other and with the creators of the Bulli Bai App. The police also alleged that the accused were posting and promoting the criminal App through the fake Twitter account they had created.

On Monday, Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Singh Rathod heard arguments on behalf of the accused' lawyers. The court accepted Mumbai Police's written reply to the bail applications and posted the matter for hearing tomorrow.

Reasons To Oppose Bail

1. The Mumbai Police said that the accused might abscond as two of them hail from Uttarakhand and one from Bangalore.
2. They cited the Delhi court's order refusing bail to Neeraj Bishnoi, App creator.
3. All the arrested accused have technical knowledge, and if released on bail, they are likely to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses in the crime. The investigation also found that the accused had used facilities like VPN and Protonmail to conceal their identity even before his arrest.
4. Rift Between Sikh and Muslim Community – The Mumbai Police said that by the timely arrest of the accused, they had prevented a possible law and other situation. The Twitter accounts had 'Sikh' mentioned in their handles and made it look like the Khalsa Sikh Force created the App. "This was likely to create a rift between the two communities and disrupt public peace. The timely arrest of the accused thus created law and order problem is prevented," the reply read.
5. This is a sensitive case, and it needs to be investigated if there was a conspiracy to create a law and order situation.
6. It needs to be checked if someone inspired the accused.
7. Investigations into the various social media accounts created by the arrested accused have revealed a lot of complex information, which is to be analyzed in the presence of the accused in connection with the crime.

Who are the Accused ?

Swetha Singh, Uttarakhand

Swetha Singh has passed her 12th in the science stream and is studying in college. She has comprehensive knowledge of technical matters. She has created seven Twitter Accounts, has one Instagram account and one Gmail account. The police claimed that several of her accounts were suspended.

Two mobile phones have been seized from her. She also has three proton mail accounts. All the accused were in contact with each other through Twitter and Instagram and were a part of similar ideological groups. And would often post toxic content on social media.

Mayank Rawat, Uttarakhand

Rawat is a third year B.Sc Chemistry student. He has eight Twitter accounts, one Instagram account, 5 Gmail accounts and 2 proton mail accounts. He is using @wanmabesigmaf account on Twitter which was recently changed to @copingmeme.

Vishal Jha, Bangalore

He is the first accused to be arrested in the case from Bangalore. The police had already seized one laptop, mobile phone and 2 sim cards from him. He was arrested on January 4 and operating one fake Twitter account. The police also alleged that he was in touch with other accused.

The Bulli Bai App case pertains to several politically vocal Muslim women being advertised for an online auction.

The FIR was registered earlier this month against necessary Twitter handles and the developer of Bulli Bai. The offences are Sections 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 354D (stalking), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of Information Technology Act.