Six arrested over deepfake threats against MLC Mirza Rahmath Baig

Hyderabad: Narsingi Police, on Friday, November 6, arrested six persons for allegedly attempting to extort money from MLC and former All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) member Mirza Rahmath Baig.

According to the first information report (FIR), they threatened Baig with circulating morphed photographs and deepfake videos depicting him in an objectionable manner.

The arrested persons were identified as Mohd Mohsin Khan (35), Fathima Begum alias Reema (29), Mohd Sameer (20), Mohd Zameer (20), Mohd Imran (18) and Syed Rehan (20).

Police seized Rs 4.7 lakh in cash, two autorickshaws, six mobile phones and a laptop from the accused.

On October 12, Baig lodged a complaint saying he received threats from unknown persons demanding Rs 5 crore.

The former AIMIM leader alleged that if he refused to pay, an online campaign of the morphed photos would be launched, an attempt to tarnish his image and political career.

The FIR named 16 people, including Hyderabad Youth Courage (HYC) founder and now a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Salman Khan, as the mastermind and prime accused.

On Friday, the Narsingi Police arrested six of the 16 accused. Salman Khan remains at large.

Police said that the accused had already extorted Rs 5 lakh and subsequently demanded another Rs 5 lakh. On Thursday, Fathima Begum and four others collected Rs 4 lakh from Baig’s office at Ibrahim Bagh.

Based on a tip-off, five of the accused were arrested while the sixth was apprehended in the subsequent operation.

A case under Sections 308(5) (extortion), 336(4) (forgery intended to harm reputation), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 353(2) (public mischief), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered.

Efforts are on to identify and apprehend the remaining accused.

In August, AIMIM expelled Mirza Rahmath Baig on allegations of serious indiscipline and misconduct. The party did not explicitly mention the details. Baig has firmly rejected the allegations, calling them baseless and false.

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