1 held in hateful MMS case

The arrested person has been identified as Shabhad Punjabi of Wanavdi area. The arrest was made on a tip-off received by the Cantonment police. The Cantonment police have arrested one person

for circulating the malicious MMS that provoked the attacks on North East (NE) people since first week of August in which about 15 northeasterners in certain localities in Pune were

targeted. This is the first arrest in the MMS case in the city. The arrested person has been identified as Shabhad Punjabi of Wanavdi area. The arrest was made on a tip-off received by the

Cantonment police. While speaking to _DNA_, an officer from the Cantonment police station, said, “Punjabi works as a peon with a private school in Wanavdi. We have recovered the cellphone

from his possession that was used to circulate the MMS spreading communal frenzy in the city.” The police claim that during the interrogation, Punjabi revealed that he had got the clip from

an acquaintance. “We have questioned him about the clip, but he did not give any concrete information in this regard. Later, we handed him over to the cyber crime cell of the Pune police for

further investigations,” the officer added. The officers of the cyber crime cell have found that Punjabi had sent the MMS to over 30 people in the city before August 8. “Punjabi used to

send the MMS via Bluetooth application from his mobile. When we questioned him about this, he told us that there was no particular intention behind his act,” said a cyber crime cell officer.

A complaint against Punjabi has been lodged with the Cantonment police under the Information Technology Act.