Bhadohi

Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi have registered a criminal case against a cyber cafe operator and his brother for allegedly creating morphed obscene images of a young woman using artificial intelligence and extorting money from her by threatening to circulate the content online.

According to police, the accused — identified as Talib, who runs a cyber cafe in Ghosiya, and his brother Rafiq — allegedly collected Rs 50,000 from the woman after threatening to upload the manipulated images on social media. Investigators say the duo later attempted to extort more money by using the same images along with old chat records.

Police said Talib had initially come in contact with the woman through Instagram, where the two had exchanged messages over a period of time.

Abhinav Tyagi said the 25-year-old woman had several photographs on her social media profile, which were allegedly downloaded and digitally altered using AI tools.

Investigators said Talib allegedly sent the manipulated images to the woman and threatened to make them public unless she paid Rs 50,000. Fearing social repercussions, she reportedly handed over the money in Gyanpur.

Police said the harassment did not stop there. In April this year, the accused allegedly traced the address of the woman’s in-laws and sent the morphed images to her husband’s mobile phone.

The accused then allegedly demanded more money, threatening to release both the edited photographs and private chat records online, and warned that doing so could destroy the woman’s marriage.

The woman had married in Varanasi on February 8, 2025.

The matter came to light after the woman’s father submitted a written complaint to the district police chief on May 13.

Following the complaint, police conducted raids at the accused’s residence on Friday, but both suspects were found absconding.

A case has now been registered against the two under Section 308(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with extortion, along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.

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Preliminary findings suggest the accused may have targeted several other women using a similar method and allegedly extorted lakhs of rupees. Police said efforts are underway to arrest both suspects and expand the investigation.