The Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Telangana arrested two more persons, on charges of uploading obscene and morphed photographs of women Tollywood actors online, taking the total number of arrests to three.
In a press release, the CID said that the duo were arrested from Ahmedabad, and identified as Thakor Maheshkumar Jayanthiji and Thakor Balusinh.
According to investigating authorities, the duo admitted that they did not know any Telugu, but could identify the popular women actors in Tollywood.
After allegedly morphing their photos and posting them online, the duo managed to earn around Rs 25,000 to Rs 35,000 every month, as their website was getting a lot of hits.
Four laptops, two mobile phones, three SIM cards were seized, besides other incriminating documents.
They were booked under sections 469 (Forgery for purpose of harming reputation) and 471 (Using as genuine a forged) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
Last month, the CID's Cyber Crime Wing registered cases against a few online websites, and charged them with violating the Information Technology Act.
The investigation agency was acting on a complaint by the Movie Artists Association (MAA), who said that several websites were publishing obscene and defamatory photographs of film personalities.
MAA president Mr Shivaji Raja, general secretary Naresh and other office-bearers filed the complaint.
While authorities and the complainants refused to reveal the exact content of the websites, they claimed that it was obscene and vulgar. They also stated that morphed images of actresses were being uploaded online and widely circulated, in a bid to defame them.
“After receiving the complaint, we went through the content which we cannot even describe openly. Nevertheless, we will take action against persons responsible for it,” CID Cybercrimes Superintendent of Police U Rammohan told the media.
At the time, it was reported that the officials had identified over 20 such websites that were posting such content, and filed a case under Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act.