Zara Khan, actor Salma Agha's daughter, was so traumatised by the obscene threat messages she had been receiving since October, that she had locked herself up in her house and stopped going to work. The Oshiwara police on Monday seized the mobile phone of the Hyderabad-based accused who allegedly sent the obscene and threatening messages to Khan. Sunday mid-day had reported that Khan had registered a complaint with the Oshiwara police after receiving the threats.

Khan, who is also an actress and singer, told mid-day that for over a month she was in trauma after receiving many such messages. Khan believed that the accused was a man from Mumbai and he followed her every day.

However, the Oshiwara police found the accused is a woman from Hyderabad. She was identified as 23-year-old Noorah Saravar, a student. She was slapped with a notice by Oshiwara police to appear in court on December 12. They are still investigating the motive behind the messages.

Khan said, "From October I have been receiving abusive and obscene messages on my Instagram page from four different accounts. I didn't reply to any of them, but later I got death threats from them. I was scared and locked myself at home. I also stopped working and avoided social media. Then my relatives also started receiving such messages on their social media accounts. After a month, I registered a complaint."

She further said, "Instagram should put some restrictions in their application for the safety of women."

Zone 9 DCP Abhishek Trimukhe said, "We sent a notice to the accused to appear in court and will record her statement. She has told us that she sent the messages due to some personal reasons."

Earlier Oshiwara police had registered the case under Sections 354 (a) (making sexually coloured remarks), 354 (b) (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the India Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology Act 67 (a) (Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc.

However, when the Oshiwara police found that the accused is a woman, they removed sections 354 (a) and 354 (b).

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’.