In a recent development regarding the ‘Bulli Bai’ app case, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has confirmed that the hosting platform GitHub has confirmed blocking of the user who ran the ‘Bulli Bai’ app. He has confirmed that the blocking was done in the morning itself and CERT and Police authorities are coordinating for further action.
CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) is the nodal agency under the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry to he nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. The minister today informed that Govt. of India is working with police organisations in Delhi and Mumbai on this matter.
On the other hand, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Delhi Police to expedite its action in the case. After NCW chief Rekha Sharma had ‘noted’ a tweet by Journalist Ismat Araa who had flagged the app after she became a target by it, NCW informed that it has taken cognizance of this incident, and the Chairperson has written to Delhi police to immediately register FIR in the matter.
@NCWIndia has taken cognizance of this incident. Chairperson @sharmarekha has written to @CPDelhi to immediately register FIR in the matter. The process must be expedited so that such crime is not repeated. https://t.co/ph83jpIHKi
— NCW (@NCWIndia) January 2, 2022
NCW also had said that the process must be expedited so that such crime is not repeated. NCW also told the police that the action taken in both the cases, including the similar app Sulli Deals that had appeared earlier, must be apprised to the Commission at the earliest.
Earlier in the day, an FIR was registered in South East Delhi by the Cyber Police. Ismat Ara, whose photos surfaced on the app wrote on Twitter that the complaint was registered under IPC sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national integration), 354A & 509 for sexual harassment.
UPDATE: An FIR has been registered by Cyber Police (South East Delhi) on the basis of my complaint with IPC sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 354A & 509 for sexual harassment. #BulliDeals pic.twitter.com/dJ1mspyiGI
— Ismat Ara (@IsmatAraa) January 2, 2022
In an Opindia report released on January 1, we had revealed that the bio of the now-suspended ‘Bulli Bai’ account on Twitter had said that the app was a community-driven open source app for Khalsa Sikh Force (KSF). The account also had #FreeJaggiNow in its name which is a hashtag used by Khalistanis to support the release of Jagtar Singh Joha, a British resident involved in several attempts to murder cases.
The App made available on GitHub had displayed images of Muslim picked from Twitter, under the tag ‘Your Bulli Bai of the day is’, and tagged the Twitter handle of the target woman.
