Dasarath Bishnoi is at a loss for words, his wife shattered. The parents of 21-year-old Neeraj Bishnoi, the main accused behind the ‘Bulli Bai’ app, were at times disturbed by their son’s engagement with his laptop but they could never have imagined this.
The second-year engineering student from Vellore Institute of Technology in Bhopal is the alleged conspirator and creator of ‘Bulli Bai’ on GitHub and the main Twitter account holder of the app. Similar to the controversial ‘Sulli Deals’ that surfaced last year, illegally sourced and doctored photographs of hundreds of Muslim women were listed for “auction” on ‘Bulli Bai’.
Neeraj and three others have been arrested in the case that has triggered massive outrage on the internet. According to police, the accused uploaded photos of several Muslim women on the app without their consent for a virtual auction.
“We did not even give him a mobile handset till his board exams. He got his first laptop as a gift from the government for scoring above 60 per cent. My son scored 86 per cent from St Mary’s School in Jorhat. Though I don’t know much about the laptop, he was totally into it. The only time we saw him was at the dining table or for an occasional visit to the nearby Hanuman mandir on Tuesdays. He has no vices or wrong company as far as I know,” said Dasarath.
Originally from Rajasthan, the Bishnois came to Jorhat in Upper Assam in the early 1980s. They are now residents of Digambar Chowk in Jorhat district. Neeraj completed his Class XII from Jorhat Science College, and was attending his undergraduate classes online due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Dasarath said, “Delhi police along with Assam police came to our home around 11 pm last night. They came looking for Neeraj, who was inside. He even denied creating the app. They seized his mobile phone and laptop, but did not find anything on the phone. They took him to Jorhat police station and told me that he will be taken to Delhi for further investigation.”
Another prime accused is 18-year-old Shweta Singh. An accused, Mayank Rawal (21), was nabbed from Uttarakhand in the early hours of Wednesday, while engineering student Vishal Kumar Jha (21) was arrested from Bengaluru on January 3.
“We were at times disturbed by his engagement with the laptop. I run a grocery shop, but he was never interested in the family business. He is the youngest after his two sisters. I had once complained to his teacher about his overindulgence of the laptop but never ever imagined this. He did not have friends or any other interests. His mother is completely shattered,” Dasarath said.
The father said Neeraj had recently visited Rajasthan for a family wedding but did not stay back. He is still hopeful that his son is not part of the conspiracy, as he added, “I am confident that my son will come out clean and return to us soon.”
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