Mumbai: MLA threatened with morphed video, FIR registered

An MLA from Mumbai recently lodged an FIR with Dahisar police station alleging that an unknown person made video calls to him in which a woman was seen doing obscene acts, and that later a person from the same number tried to extort money from him by morphing his video.

Prakash Surve, a Shiv Sena MLA from Magathane, told the police that he receives several phone calls and WhatsApp messages from people asking for help.

On November 11, around 9.20 pm, he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number where a person said, “Hello, How are you.k”. Again, on November 13 around 3 pm he received a WhatsApp message, “Hi”. Surve said he did not respond to these messages as they were from an unknown number.

On November 16 around 11.10 pm, he received another WhatsApp message from the same number where the accused person said, “Hello, Kya huva ji” and soon after the MLA received a video WhatsApp call from the number.

“At first I did not take the phone call but on receiving another call I took it,” the MLA told police. On the video call, a woman was doing obscene acts and stripping, he said. “Soon after realising what was happening, I immediately cut the phone call. I got repeated phone calls from the number and I replied to the person please do not call me. Otherwise, I will complain to the police station,” Surve told the police.

The accused allegedly morphed a photo of Surve with the that of another person and sent it to him and demanded Rs 5,000 from him, and threatened to make the video viral if the money was not paid.

The MLA then approached the police on December 4. An FIR was registered under IPC section 500 (defamation), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 66 E (violation of privacy) and 67 A (transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act