Kottayam, 05 September (H.S.): Police have taken a 22-year-old engineering student into custody for allegedly morphing photographs of female classmates and storing the manipulated images on his mobile phone and laptop, in another case involving the misuse of digital technology in Kerala.

The accused has been identified as Ajmal T. Muhammed, a native of Changanassery and a BTech student at Mangalam College of Engineering. Police have seized his mobile phone and laptop and launched a detailed examination of the devices with the assistance of the cyber cell.

The alleged activity came to light when some of Ajmal's friends were working on a college magazine and happened to access his laptop. They reportedly discovered several morphed photographs of female students stored on the device. The students subsequently alerted the college authorities, who informed the police.

According to investigators, Ajmal used to take photographs of his classmates on his mobile phone, as was common among his group of friends. Police are investigating how the images were subsequently manipulated and the extent of the material stored on his electronic devices.

Ettumanoor police said several morphed images of students had been recovered during the preliminary examination. However, investigators have so far found no evidence indicating that the manipulated photographs were uploaded to websites or circulated through social media or messaging groups.

The seized devices are undergoing further forensic and cyber examination to determine whether the images had been transferred, shared or stored elsewhere.

Police have registered a case against Ajmal under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. Further action will be based on the findings of the continuing investigation.

The incident comes amid heightened concern in Kerala over the misuse of digital tools to manipulate women's photographs, following a recent controversy involving AI-assisted morphing of images of female students and teachers at Bharata Mata College in Ernakulam.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman