The Thrikkakara police on Friday recorded the arrest of a 20-year-old student of Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara in Ernakulam district, Keralam, a day after he was taken into custody for allegedly morphing photographs of a few teachers and circulating them online.

The arrested is Sreehari V.S., a second-year BBA student. He has been booked under Section 67A of the Information Technology Act which deals with transmission of material containing sexually explicit acts in electronic form, Section 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which handles offences meant to insult a woman’s modesty or intrude upon her privacy and Section 119(1)(b) of the Kerala Police Act (recording or sharing photos and videos that harm a woman’s privacy), according to police sources.

The investigation so far has revealed that the accused morphed images of at least three teachers, a senior officer said. “As of now, we have not identified any other accused involved in the offence. However, a couple of people in the accused’s age group are under our radar for their suspected involvement,” the officer said.

Police sources said they were also investigating if the accused made any financial gain through the crime.

The police registered the case against the student based on a complaint by the college management. Principal Soumya Thomas said the student was dismissed from the college after the disciplinary committee confirmed the allegations and handed over his mobile phone to the police. She added that the incident came to light after a former student alerted a teacher about the morphed pictures that were allegedly circulated online.

The incident had created an uproar among the students of the college, who staged a protest on the campus demanding stringent action against him.

Meanwhile, the college management has informed the students that they can submit any further evidence or complaints connected to the issue before the institution’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). We will hand it over to the Police for required follow-up action. The students can also submit the complaints, if any, to the Principal, they said.

A senior college official said timely action was taken against the accused after learning about the incident. “We had expelled from the institution after confirming the allegations,” they said.