In a major breakthrough, police arrested a 21-year-old cyber stalker who used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate objectionable content and harass a college-going girl online, as per a report by The New Indian Express.

The accused, a resident of Palam village, was targeting the victim through multiple fake social media accounts, created daily to evade detection.

A case was registered on June 16 after the victim approached police with a complaint of persistent online harassment, threats and blackmail.

The complainant reported that the accused was creating new fake social media accounts daily, using her photos along with derogatory and defamatory captions posted through stories.

These accounts also sent follow request to her friends and followers in a calculated attempt to defame and mentally torture her, a senior police officer said.

It was revealed during investigation that the accused was impersonating a female using a profile picture taken from the victim's public account. The accused further used AI tools to convert the images into sexually explicit content and uploaded these edited pictures through fake social media stories.

Taking cognisance of the matter, a team was formed to investigate the case. Despite the accused using untraceable mobile numbers and email IDs, the team conducted a thorough technical analysis and launched a series of raids in the Palam area.

After continuous surveillance, the accused was arrested and the smartphone was covered. During interrogation, the accused confessed to the offences.

The investigation is ongoing and police are exploring whether more individuals may have been targeted using similar methods, said Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest), according to the report by The New Indian Express.