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Nainital: The Uttarakhand High Court has sent notices to Facebook, the Center and the state government on a PIL filed by a lawyer alleging that he was a victim of cyber blackmailing.
Hearing the petition on Wednesday, Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma directed the Facebook India head and the central and state governments to file their replies within three weeks.
The division bench of the High Court has also sent notices to the DGP of Uttarakhand and the Additional Superintendent of Police, Haridwar.
The PIL was related to obscene videos on the Internet created by fraudsters with hacked Facebook IDs and fake Facebook IDs. These videos and accounts were being used to blackmail people and extort lakhs of rupees from them.
The petitioner, a Haridwar-based lawyer, submitted in the plea that friend requests are sent from fake Facebook IDs and after accepting these requests the pictures are edited into obscene videos.
People are then blackmailed for money, he said, adding a similar video was sent to them. The petitioner said that he lodged a complaint with SSP Haridwar, DGP and Home Secretary but no action was taken.
He then filed an application under RTI asking the police department about the number of FIRs registered in such cases.
He said so far 45 victims have filed complaints in similar cases and their complaints are being considered.
Read also: How a 19-year-old ‘scolded, blackmailed’ 50 women for over a year before being arrested
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