Sulli Deals case:My son is being framed, says app creator's father

The father of a 26-year-old man, believed to be the creator of the 'Sulli Deals' app and arrested by the Delhi police from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, claimed on Sunday that his son was being framed in the case.

Akhilesh Thakur, the father of accused Aumkareshwar Thakur, told reporters in Indore that he does not know anything about the app concerned and after his son got the BCA degree in 2018, he started web-designing work from home.

He said two Delhi police personnel in plain clothes came to his house on Saturday afternoon and after identifying his son, they took the latter to the national capital by a flight in the evening.

The police also seized his son's mobile phone and laptop from their house, he said.

Earlier in the day, officials said the Delhi Police had arrested the accused from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

This is the first arrest made in the 'Sulli Deals' app case, they said.

Hundreds of Muslim women were listed for 'auction' on the mobile application with photographs sourced without permission and doctored.

Thakur did his BCA course from the IPS Academy in Indore and is a resident of Newyork City Township, officials said.

Delhi's deputy commissioner of police (IFSO) KPS Malhotra said during preliminary interrogation, the accused admitted that he was a member of a group on Twitter and the idea to defame and troll Muslim women was shared there.

However, Akhilesh Thakur said, "I have come to know that on the basis of just one person's statement, my son, who is an IT specialist, has been arrested and taken to Delhi. My son is being framed and defamed."

He said after securing the BCA degree in 2018, his son started web-designing work from home on a personal level.

"I am an old-fashioned person. I don't even know how to operate a mobile phone properly. I don't know anything about the 'Sulli Deals' app," said Akhilesh Thakur, who works in a private company.

The father of the accused said he was away in Nagda town of neighbouring Ujjain district when the Delhi Police took his son into custody.

He also said the Delhi police informed about the arrest on Sunday morning and made him to talk to his son.

“During the conversation, my son told me that we should not get worried,” he said, adding that he would be going to Delhi later in the day to arrange legal help for his son.

Earlier in the day, Delhi's DCP Malhotra said, "He (Sulli Deals app case accused) had developed the code on GitHub. The access of GitHub was with all the members of the group. He had shared the app on his Twitter account. The photos of the Muslim women were uploaded by the group members."

Investigation has revealed that the accused had joined the group on Twitter by the name of 'Tradmahasabha' in January 2020 using the handle @gangescion.

During various group discussions, the members had talked about trolling Muslim women, the police said.

"He admitted that he had developed the code/app on GitHub. After the uproar regarding the Sulli Deals app, he had deleted all his social media footprints," the DCP said.

The Delhi police said that further analysis of technical gadgets is underway to find out the codes/images related to the app. Earlier in July, a case was registered by the Delhi Police's cyber cell after it received a complaint about an unidentified group uploading photos of Muslim women on an app.

According to police, Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged mastermind and creator of the 'Bulli Bai' application, had disclosed during interrogation that he was in touch with the person behind the Twitter handle @sullideals, the alleged creator of the 'Sulli Deals' app that was hosted on GitHub in July last year.