Mumbai: Oshiwara police arrested a 39-year-old marketing executive from Hyderabad for allegedly stalking and posting abusive sexual content and rape threats to Pakistani-born British actor-singer Zara Khan on the latter’s social media account between October 28 and November 3. Khan is the daughter of yesteryear actor-singer Salma Agha.

The accused, Noorah Sarwar, claimed to have committed the offence after Khan blocked her Instagram account. She said that she suspected Khan of breaking her engagement. The police added that Sarwar claims to be a messenger of God. Sarwar, who is currently unemployed, has also been accused of allegedly posting threat messages to entrepreneur-model Sahil Peerzada, model-actor Kushal Tandon, producer-actor Kamal R Khan and actor Ajaz Khan.

“A probe is on to know the exact motive behind the threat messages to Khan,” said Oshiwara police senior inspector Dayanand Bangar. “Sarwar and two of her accomplices also posted threat messages to a few other celebrities during the lockdown period. We will call them to record their statements.”

In November, Khan approached Oshiwara police after receiving sexual abuse and threat posts on her Instagram page from different accounts.

In her complaint, the 28-year-old said, “I first received an offensive and threat message on October 28 telling me to remove all my photos, videos and stories from my Instagram page. I ignored it. But two days later, I received a rape threat from another account. The matter worsened on November 3, when I received abusive and threatening posts from a third account.”

Based on the complaint, zonal deputy commissioner of police Abhishek Trimukhe supervised the team-— Bangar, assistant inspector Nitin Gije and detection staffers — that tracked Sarwar through the internet protocol and mobile IMEI number from her rented flat in Karim Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana on November 28.

On December 5, the police team issued a notice to Sarwar asking her to present herself at Oshiwara police station in Mumbai. They also seized her phone and sent it to the forensic laboratory to recover the messages that she allegedly posted on the actor-singer’s Instagram page. As she did not turn up, two more notices were sent to her.

She finally came to Mumbai on Wednesday and was arrested. On Thursday, Sarwar was produced before Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court, which remanded her in police custody till December 26.

Pakistani-born British actor Salma Agha's daughter Zara Khan has registered a case at Oshiwara police after she received rape threats on her Instagram account.

Khan, an actor and singer, has worked in various Bollywood movies, including Aurangzeb, and Desi Kattey. In her complaint, she said that between October 28 and November 3, she received many abusive messages on her Instagram account from an unknown person.

The Oshiwara police learnt that the accused is a 23-year-old female MBA student from Hyderabad. Senior inspector Dayanand Bangar, Oshiwara police station said, "After actor Zara Khan approached us, we informed the cyber department and took help from the Instagram team and traced the accused on the basis of the local IP address."

The accused, identified as Noorah Saravar, had created a fake account on Instagram. "She told the investigating officer that Khan and her co-workers were working with a political party and targetting her. During probe, we learnt that she is mentally unstable. We have sent the accused a notice [41(A) CRPC (Notice of appearance before police officer]," said Inspector Bangar. He also mentioned that the police are yet to establish a motive behind the threatening messages. A case has been registered against the accused under sections 354 (a), 354(b), 509, 506 and Information Technology Act 67(a) of Indian Penal Code.

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Mumbai: The Oshiwara police recently registered a case against a Hyderabad-based MBA student for threatening Pakistan-born British actor Salma Agha’s daughter, actor Zara Khan. The case was filed after she received rape threats on her Instagram account between October 28 and November 3. Till date, no arrest has been made.

Based on the complaint, the police took help from the cyber police to track down the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the fake Instagram account holder identified as Noorah Saravar (23). The police have asked her to be present for questioning. In the complaint, the actress said she received several abusive messages on her Instagram account from someone she did not know.

Oshiwara Senior inspector Dayanand Bangar told TOI, “We informed the cyber police and traced the suspect. She said the actress and her co-workers were working with a political party and had been targeting her, which made her commit the offence. We have sent her a notice to appear before the police.”

The officer added that they were yet to find out Saravar’s motive behind the messages.

Khan, an actor and singer, has worked in several Bollywood movies, including ‘Aurangzeb’, and ‘Desi Kattey’.