Delhi Police sends 'Bulli Bai' case to IFSO unit, gets nod for MLAT procedure in 'Sulli Deals' case
New Delhi(PTI): The Delhi Police on Tuesday transferred the 'Bulli Bai' case to its Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit and is planning to get a nod for Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty procedure to seek information about the app from its foreign-based hosting platform, officials said.
Police said the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSCO) unit is also probing the 'Sulli Deals' mobile application case that emerged in July last year.
About the probe into the 'Sulli Deals' case, a police officer said the IFSCO unit on Tuesday got a nod for Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) procedure in criminal matters from the Centre.
Hundreds of Muslim women were listed for "auction" on the 'Bulli Bai' mobile application with photographs sourced without permission and doctored. It has happened for the second time in less than a year. The app appeared to be a clone of 'Sulli Deals' which triggered a similar row last year.
The Delhi Police on Saturday registered an FIR against unknown persons for allegedly uploading a doctored picture of a woman journalist on a website. The journalist had lodged a complaint and shared a copy on Twitter.
"A case was registered in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' mobile app after a complaint was received on January 1. The probe is underway. We have also approached the hosting platform which is based abroad and are awaiting their reply for further investigation into the matter," a senior police officer said.
Another officer said, "The 'Bulli Bai' case has been transferred to the IFSCO unit and as per protocol we are planning to write to authorities concerned to seek approval for MLAT even as an investigation into the matter is underway."
The cyber cell of the Mumbai Police, which is also probing the app case, has arrested a 19-year-old woman, alleged to be the main culprit, from Uttarakhand, and a 21-year-old engineering student from Bengaluru.
Vishal Kumar Jha, the student, and co-accused Shweta Singh reportedly knew each other. According to the police, more arrests are likely.
As far as the 'Sulli Deals' case is concerned, the Delhi Police officer said, "We had sought approval for MLAT in the matter last year. It is a long process involving various procedures. Today, we got approval for it from the Government of India. The investigation is in progress."
On Monday, the Delhi Police had said that it has sought details from the GitHub platform about the developer of the controversial mobile application and had also written to Twitter for information about the account handler who first posted about the app.
The city police also asked Twitter to block and remove on the microblogging platform any "offensive content" shared from the 'Bulli Bai' app which had put up pictures of hundreds of Muslim women, including prominent personalities, for "auction".
According to a senior police officer, the case has been registered under sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 354 A (sexual harassment and punishment for harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
