Overview
- Kolhapur police, who registered a second FIR on Wednesday, also formed a Special Investigation Team led by Additional SP Dheeraj Kumar to steer the case.
- A court remanded Shahid Sameer Sanade and alleged accomplice Shahrukh Hussain Desai to police custody until May 4, and investigators have seized a phone for forensic tests.
- Complaints allege the accused used social media to befriend young women, took them to lodges in Kolhapur and Shiroli, recorded sexual acts without consent, and used the videos to threaten and blackmail them under laws covering rape, intimidation, and IT offenses.
- NCW’s directive seeks identification of all victims, arrests of any accomplices, takedown of objectionable content online, and a thorough cyber-forensic investigation with details on counselling and protection.
- Local groups have staged protests and claimed multiple victims, while police say the total is still being verified and have urged other survivors to come forward with confidentiality assured; the case follows a high-profile Amravati scandal that raised alarms over digital grooming.