Niraj Bishnoi, the 21-year-old alleged "main conspirator" of the Bulli Bai app, has reportedly disclosed to the Delhi Police that he is in touch with the creator of Sulli Deals, a similar app on Github that was created to "auction off" Muslim women in July 2021.
Bishnoi was arrested from Assam’s Jorhat by Delhi Police on Wednesday, 5 January, 2022.
According to DCP (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) KPS Malhotra,
"His claim of being in touch with the creator of Sulli Deals app is being verified. Further technical analysis is being done to identify the culprit. Forensic examination of the technical devices is underway."
Malhotra further said that Bishnoi has disclosed that "he was in touch with the persons arrested by Mumbai Police and used to chat with them through Twitter group chats."
Mumbai Police had arrested three persons in connection to the Bulli Bai case, identified as Mayank Rawal, Shweta Singh, and Vishal Kumar Jha.
Malhotra said, "He (Bishnoi) had never met these persons and even did not have their contact numbers. He had disclosed that he was using the twitter account of Shweta (Singh) who had been arrested by Mumbai Police."
Police also said that he used "Gurmukhi script instead of Devanagari script on the app as "he found it to be more impactful than Devanagari script."
'Hacking Websites Since He Was 15 Yrs Old, Attempting to Delay Investigation'
Police said that currently, they are analysing deleted data on Bishnoi's laptop to figure out the extent of his involvement with the Sulli Deals app.
Police said that during the interrogation, it has come to the fore that "he is habitual of hacking and has been defacing websites." Malhotra said that he learnt this when he was 15-years-old, and that "previously he had hacked various websites of schools and universities of India as well as of Pakistan. His claims of hacking the websites related to schools is being verified."
In the press statement, Malhotra said that Bishnoi is "trying to delay the investigation and is not cooperating in the interrogation. He had also tried to harm himself twice and also threatening to commit suicide. Due care is being take care of him, while he is in custody. His medical examination has been conducted and he is stable and unharmed."
Police said that Bishnoi is inclined towards an animated gaming character from Japan named GIYU. "He had created various Twitter handles using the word GIYU... through which he had challenged the law enforcement agencies to nab him," said Malhotra.
In a press statement on Friday, Malhotra had said that one of Bishnoi's Twitter accounts, '@giyu007' had came into light when the Sulli Deal case was under investigation.
‘Wants To Divert Attention of the Media’: KPS Malhotra
During social media monitoring, DCP (IFSO) KPS Malhotra said on Saturday, 8 January, it has come to notice that one https://neopolitico.com and https://falanadikhana.com is claiming of interviewing Bishnoi, hours before his arrest.
Malhotra clarified that the accused Niraj Bishnoi, "was disturbed after the arrest of three of his followers namely Vishal, Shweta, and Mayank Rawat".
Explaining the reason behind the interview, Malhotra added:
"He wants to divert the attention of the media by claiming that Vishal and Shweta were innocent. To propagate this fact, he had created Twitter account @giyu44 and started sharing the screenshots of the code creation and the email accounts used by him for creating the code on GitHub."
Explaining how Bishnoi tried to divert the attention of the investigating agencies, Malhotra said, "to support his claim of creation of the Bulli Bai app and to prove the innocence of earlier arrested accused persons, he had shared the login details, email details and screen shots with one Shubham Sharma (the editor-in-chief of neopolitico.com) and on Twitter also".
Moreover, Bishnoi had "intentionally divulged" the details with Sharma and on Twitter to "gain publicity", the police official said.
KPS Malhotra added that Bishnoi had "shared only partial details to support his claim of creation of app. He communicated through VPN with them also, so that he could not be traced. He was challenging the law enforcement agencies to nab him. By using VPN and proton emails, he was thoughtful that he would never be traced and arrested".
Case Background
In July last year, both Noida and Delhi Police had registered FIRs against unknown persons for creating an app on Github called “Sulli Deals” in which photos of several Muslim women were uploaded, accompanied by the text – “Deal of the Day”.
In January this year, a similar app called “Bulli Bai” surfaced on Github, and so far four people have been arrested – three by Mumbai Police, and one by Delhi Police.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)