Hyderabad: 1 arrested for harassing, threatening minor online

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda police arrested a 27-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh for allegedly harassing and threatening a minor online.

According to the police, Gowreneni Manoj hacked the Instagram account of the victim by sending her a phishing link. "Manoj after hacking the Instagram account started blackmailing her demanding nude video calls to him," said ACP Cybercrime, SV Hari Krishna.

The accused completed B Tech from AP. He has been addicted to watching porn, learned to hack social media accounts through video on internet. He created social media profiles with fake names to befriend several girls. When the victim, a minor, accepted his request on Instagram, he sent her a phishing link. Unaware of the link she opened it and entered her details.

The accused captured her Instagram password and downloaded her photos from her profile. He threatened to circulate her morphed pictures if she refused to make nude video calls to her. On a complaint, the police booked a case and tracked down Manoj to Ibrahimpatnam in NTR district in AP. He was arrested and produced in court.