Kochi: The morphing case registered against a student of Bharata Matha College, Thrikkakara, has taken a new turn with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) arresting one more accused, an Alappuzha college student, who allegedly made money by selling sexually explicit morphed photos and videos through private Telegram groups using QR-code payments.
The arrested accused has been identified as Saneesh (20), a native of Kurathikad in Alappuzha and a B.Com student at a college in Mavelikkara. According to the police, while the first accused, Bharata Mata College student Sreehari S, created and circulated explicit AI-morphed content without personal financial gain, police said Saneesh allegedly capitalised on such material by charging people for access to additional content.
Saneesh was arrested by Thrikkakara police on Monday around 3.15 pm. He has been booked under Section 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 67 of the Information Technology Act and Section 119(1)(b) of the Kerala Police Act. The police said additional penal sections could be invoked based on the financial evidence recovered.
A senior police officer said the SIT had found traces of monetary transactions linked to Saneesh and that he allegedly functioned as an admin of a Telegram group connected to the circulation of the explicit material.
“The arrest has been recorded. He is a student from Mavelikkara belonging to the same age group, and their mutual connection is through a Telegram group where he operated as an admin,” the officer said.
According to police, members of larger Telegram groups that share explicit photos and videos allegedly created smaller, private groups catering to specific interests and used the promise of additional explicit content to attract members.
“From larger groups, these individuals created smaller, private groups catering to specific interests. To lure people, they would claim they possessed more explicit content and provided a QR code or an identifier. Once payments were made through the QR code, more morphed photos and videos were released,” the officer said.
The police said the financial motive distinguishes Saneesh’s alleged role from that of Sreehari, who is accused of creating and circulating the morphed visuals but was not found to have monetised them.
“We have received traces and evidence of monetary involvement and financial transactions regarding this second accused. We are examining invoking additional penal sections against him,” the officer said.
The SIT is now trying to identify other people allegedly operating within the Telegram network, including those who may have benefited from or facilitated the circulation and sale of the material. “The members of the group are using techniques to stay anonymous and we are trying to identify them,” said the officer.
The arrest comes after the probe widened following revelations by Kochi City Police Commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar and Thrikkakara ACP Bijoy Chandran that a closed group of around five people was under surveillance.
Investigators had earlier found that Sreehari deleted the generative AI tools from his phone after allegedly using them to create sexually explicit visuals targeting faculty members.
The case had triggered massive protests at Bharata Mata College, with various student outfits alleging that there are other students in the college who are involved in the case. Sreehari was expelled from the college last week.
The investigation has since drawn statewide attention amid concerns over the misuse of generative AI to create and circulate sexually explicit manipulated images. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala had described the growing misuse of cyberspace and AI morphing as a ‘crisis of enormous proportion’ and announced that the state government was preparing a comprehensive anti-cybercrime action plan by October.
