Days after arresting a 25-year-old software developer in connection with the “Sulli deals” app, where photos of Muslim women captioned “deal of the day” were posted six months ago, the accused Aumkareshwar Thakur is learnt to have told investigators that he got the idea after seeing a similar app, called ‘Sullideals101’ on GitHub in 2019. He also claimed he only made a “basic app”, which was later fine-tuned by two other members of a Twitter group called ‘Tradmahasabha’. Thakur was arrested days after four persons, including two engineering students and a Delhi University student, were arrested for a similar app which posted doctored photos of at least 100 Muslim women, along with lewd remarks and comments, on December 31. Both the apps were hosted on US-based GitHub. Delhi Police DCP (Cyber Cell) K P S Malhotra said Thakur, during preliminary interrogation, admitted that he was a member of a ‘trad’ group – a group of individuals on social media targeting Dalits, Muslims and women – on Twitter and the idea to troll Muslim women was shared there. During questioning, Thakur is learnt to have told police about how he got the idea after seeing the 2019 app and having discussions with other members of the ‘Tradmahasabha’ group. “He joined the group on Twitter in January 2020 and the idea was to defame and troll Muslim women. He then made the app and shared it on the group along with its code. Two-three other members then designed the app further,” said an officer. Police said that when complaints were filed by women targeted on the app, Thakur deleted it. “He also left the Tradmahasabha group, which was deleted in the second week of July. All members left the group and deleted their Twitter handles. We have recovered his iPhone and iPad and forensic examinations are on. He claims that 15-20 anonymous handles were active in the group, but we are verifying this,” the officer said. Thakur has completed his schooling from Indore and BCA from IPS Academy. He was doing freelance work as a website developer from home, police said.
