The Nirmal Nagar police have finally succeeded in arresting a notorious criminal who was harassing women by sending them obscene audio tapes. The accused has been arrested at the Nirmal Nagar Police Station under charges of molestation and the Information Technology Act. An investigation of his mobile phone revealed that the accused had been harassing 25 women in Mumbai in this manner.
According to information received from the police, the arrested accused has been identified as Mohammad Aziz Mohammad Nisar Khan (36), who runs a paratha shop in the Behrampada area of Bandra. He is originally from Uttar Pradesh, married, and has two children. The accused lives in a rented house in the Behrampada area of Mumbai with another friend. The investigation revealed that the accused had used eight different mobile phones for his crimes. Although the accused is not well-educated, he has a significant understanding of mobile technology, making it difficult to apprehend him.
On June 14, a 30-year-old housewife from Bandra East received a call from an unknown number on her mobile phone. The caller began making obscene comments. When the woman yelled at him on the phone, the accused started sending her obscene audio tapes, which frightened her. Initially, she ignored it, but when the accused continued to harass her repeatedly, she informed her husband. A complaint was then lodged at the Nirmal Nagar Police Station. Under the guidance of Senior Police Inspector Shrimant Shinde, Police Inspector (Crime) Rauf Sheikh was instructed to register a case and search for the accused. Accordingly, a case was registered under IPC Section 509 (outraging a woman’s modesty through communication) and IT Act Section 67 (sending obscene messages).
During the investigation, the accused's mobile phone was found to be switched off. However, he continued to send WhatsApp messages using various mobile phones. On Friday, the police team led by Police Inspector Sheikh, along with police constables Amol Salunkhe and Shrikrishna Salve, set a trap and, with the help of technology, arrested the accused, Khan, from the Behrampada area. Two mobile phones were seized from the accused at the time. The investigation of the accused's mobile phones revealed that he had been harassing 25 women in Mumbai in this manner. The police are now urging these women to contact the police and file complaints against the accused.
An official from the Nirmal Nagar Police stated that to avoid arrest, the accused used unsecured or password-free Wi-Fi networks to send messages to women. For this, he would insert the SIM card used in the crime into the mobile phone, start WhatsApp on it, and then remove the SIM card, sending messages via Wi-Fi only so that they could not be traced back to him. As a result, the police were reaching the respective Wi-Fi owners every time. The investigation has revealed that the accused used eight mobile phones in this manner to avoid arrest. Sources have also stated that several obscene audio tapes were found on the accused’s seized mobile phones.