Ahmedabad: A city sessions court on Monday denied regular bail to one of the accused allegedly involved in the case of hacking into the CCTV system of a maternity hospital in Rajkot to gain access to the footage of women undergoing gynaecological check-ups. Videos made from the footage were sold through YouTube and Telegram channels, sparking massive outrage.
Ryan Pereira, 22, from Mota Chiloda in Gandhinagar, is one of the accused lodged in prison since Feb. He applied for bail, pleading innocence, and claimed that the cops had found no evidence to establish his role in the alleged offence.
However, public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt strongly opposed the bail plea and submitted that Pereira, along with other co-accused, hatched a conspiracy for their financial benefit. They infringed upon the privacy of the female patients by accessing the hospital’s CCTV footage to make videos out of it and circulate them on YouTube channel. He submitted that Pereira committed a serious offence of cyberterrorism, and if released, he might indulge in the activity again.
The cybercrime cell submitted before the court that Pereira used three software programs to hack into live CCTV feed and sold the videos for Rs 150 to Rs 400 per clip after generating a QR code. He also allegedly sold the hacking software for Rs 10,000, according to the investigator’s affidavit.
After hearing the arguments, additional sessions judge H G Pandya rejected Pereira’s bail plea and stated, “The initial investigation indicates the applicant’s involvement in the crime. The investigation is still ongoing, and the chargesheet has not been filed yet. In these circumstances, there is a strong possibility of creating obstruction in the investigation, and at this stage, granting bail does not seem justified.”
Recently, the court denied bail to the co-accused in this case, Rohit Sisodia, Prajwal Teli, Parit Dhamiliya and Praaj Patil.