Mumbai, June 18: A 25-year-old tech-savvy security guard forced women to engage in virtual sex by blackmailing them with morphed obscene photos posted on fake Instagram profiles. The accused, Shubham Kumar Manoj Prasad Singh, allegedly created thousands of fake accounts using images of women who ignored his friend requests. Singh then coerced his victims into sending explicit videos in exchange for deleting the fake profiles. After a 19-year-old student filed a complaint, Dahisar police tracked him to Bengaluru, Karnataka and arrested him.

According to a Mid-Day report, Singh used over 100 fake Gmail IDs to create multiple Instagram accounts targeting women who had declined to interact with him online. He morphed their photos using graphic editing tools and uploaded them with misleading captions, falsely portraying the victims as sex workers. The posts included fabricated rates and services, leading to severe mental trauma for the women. When they confronted him, he demanded virtual sex acts as a condition for deleting the obscene content. Mumbai Shocker: Kandivali-Based Doctor Rapes and Tortures Junior Artist From Bollywood on Suspicion of Her Having an Affair, Booked.

The case came to light after a 19-year-old BSc student from Kandivli East noticed three such fake accounts in her name, posted on consecutive days in January. After blocking two accounts and consulting friends, she approached the cyber police when the third profile surfaced. Based on technical evidence and assistance from social media platforms, the cyber team tracked Singh’s IP address to the Bellari district. He was picked up from a factory area in Bengaluru where he worked as a security guard. Mumbai Shocker: 3 Killed in Brutal Clash Over Old Dispute in Dahisar West, 3 Others Injured; Viral Video Surfaces.

Singh, who once pursued a diploma in Information Technology, reportedly used his skills in HTML, networking, and design software like CorelDRAW to execute the crimes. As per the report, he turned to this activity after failing to land an IT job and started exploiting women while maintaining a low-profile day job. He was brought to Mumbai and produced before the Borivli Metropolitan Magistrate Court on June 16, which remanded him to police custody. Authorities are now probing if more victims are involved.

Women and Child Helpline Numbers:

Childline India – 1098; Missing Child and Women – 1094; Women’s Helpline – 181; National Commission for Women Helpline – 112; National Commission for Women Helpline Against Violence – 7827170170; Police Women and Senior Citizen Helpline – 1091/1291.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2025 08:24 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).