Assam police detained a Dibrugarh man on Saturday night on charges of posting morphed photos of influencer Archita Phukan on social media from a fictitious account impersonating the woman.
Pratim Bora, a resident of Tinsukia, was detained after Phukan's brother approached the police with a complaint, police informed on Sunday.
As per officials, Bora, the erstwhile partner of Phukan, had operated the bogus account for a few weeks. He allegedly made doctored pictures using it with the purpose of defaming and harassing her.
"When interrogated, the accused told us that he had made the fake account due to rage and emotional frustration after his relationship with the woman soured," an officer said.
Phukan, better known as Babydoll Archi, disclosed that her photoshopped pictures with US adult film actress Kendra Lust were distributed from the imposter account. She added that friends and acquaintances of hers discovered the photos after they went viral on social media sites.
Police observed that Bora first had gone into hiding, but the investigators were able to trace where he was staying through his phone and IP address. "We tracked the accused from IP address information and technical evidence. He was picked up from a rented house in Tinsukia. His phone and laptop have been confiscated and sent for forensic analysis," a cybercrime official said.
The authorities stated that Bora confessed to using Phukan's older social media posts and editing them. FIR has been registered under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
"We have taken him into custody under sections of BNS, but we can add provisions of the Information Technology Act in regard to cyber fraud, defamation, identity tampering, obscenity, and privacy invasion. Bora is currently in police custody and will be produced before a court soon,” the officer added.
