Prominent Muslim women were auctioned on the 'Bulli Bai' app (Representational)
A Mumbai court today rejected the bail pleas of three students arrested in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' app case in which the photos of prominent Muslim women were put up online for "auction".
The three accused are Vishal Kumar Jha, Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat.
Singh (18) and Rawat (21) were arrested by the Mumbai Police's cyber cell from Uttarakhand on January 5, while Jha was arrested from Bengaluru on January 4.
They were denied bail by a metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai's suburban Bandra.
Earlier, the police had opposed their bail claiming the accused used names from the Sikh community for their social media handles with an intention to breach peace in society and create animosity among religious groups.
The police have told the court that all the three accused were operating multiple social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Gmail.
The cyber cell has said many of the accounts were deleted or suspended for posting defamatory content and information regarding the same is yet to be procured.
The Mumbai Police had registered an FIR in the case following complaints by several women targeted by the 'Bulli Bai' app. The app made public details of several Muslim women, allowing users to participate in their "auction".
Meanwhile, Niraj Bishnoi and Omkareshwar Thakur, who were earlier arrested by the Delhi Police, were today brought to Mumbai by the city police's cyber cell on transit remand for questioning.
Bishnoi had been arrested in another Bulli Bai app case lodged by the Delhi Police, while Thakur had been caught in the "Sulli" deals app case.
The police have claimed the accused arrested in the Bulli Bai app case were also active in the "Sulli" deals case of July 2021. The "Sulli" deals app had triggered widespread outrage as it had put out details of over 100 prominent Muslim women, allowing users to participate in their "auction".
Bishnoi and Thakur were produced before the Bandra magistrate court, which remanded them to police custody till January 27.