Techie from Ahmedabad held for cyberstalking city woman

Almost seven months after a Mumbai-based woman lodged a complaint with Kandivali police alleging that an unidentified man was harassing and abusing her online for several months, the police have arrested the cyberstalker from Ahmedabad.

The accused has been identified as Uday Kumar Panchal, a 25-year-old computer engineer, a repeat offender who harasses women on social media by abusing and stalking them.

According to the police, the woman registered the complaint in June 2017. The woman alleged that the imposter was sending her lewd, abusive messages on Facebook and Twitter. Despite the woman blocking and reporting all his accounts, the accused would repeatedly create new profiles with fake identities and continue the abuse. "He was posting abusive comments to the extent that I was beginning to get scared of posting anything on my social media profiles," said the harassed woman.

On the basis of her complaint, the Kandivali police registered an FIR of cyberstalking and online sexual harassment against an unidentified person. "Since he is well-versed with technology, it took us a few months to identify him. We traced him using his computer's IP address," said a police officer.

"We have arrested the accused from Ahmedabad and have booked him under relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act," said Mukund Pawar, Senior Police Inspector, Kandivali Police Station.