50,000 Videos From Rajkot Maternity Ward Leaked On Telegram Over 9 Months, 6 Arrested
Three accused were produced in court for hacking CCTV footage of Payal Hospital and sharing explicit videos on Telegram. They have been remanded till March 3
Three of the accused in the Rajkot maternity ward CCTV hacking case, Vaibhav Bandu Mane, Ryan Robin Pereira, and Parit Dhanshyambhai Dhamelia, were presented in court for a remand hearing.
According to a Times of India report, six people have been arrested in the case so far. They were involved in a large-scale CCTV hacking operation in which they collected and sold indecent videos of women.
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“The accused used hacking tools and stole at least 50,000 videos in nine months, which include footage from schools, factories, colleges, corporate houses and even bedrooms," DCP, Cybercrime, Lavina Sinha was quoted as saying.
Dhamelia reportedly used three different software programs to breach the hospital’s CCTV system. He gained access by exploiting unsecured IP addresses and ports, ultimately giving him control over the live security footage.
According to the Times of India report Sinha stated that the three newly arrested suspects were involved in hacking CCTV cameras. They were apprehended from Sangli and Surat based on technical analysis and human intelligence. The accused have been identified as Parit Dhamelia, a BCom graduate from Surat with foreign training in CCTV hacking; Vaibhav Mane, a BTech in computer science from Sangli, Maharashtra, who handled the marketing of the leaked footage on Telegram; and Ryan Pereira, a management studies student from Vasai, Maharashtra, who allegedly sold the videos on the platform.
Government prosecutor Jayesh Yadav, during the remand application, revealed that the accused had gained access to the CCTV system of Rajkot’s Payal Hospital, with one of the accused, Parit, and Ryan, responsible for the hacking.
Yadav highlighted the seriousness of the offences, stating that the accused had been sharing explicit videos in various Telegram groups for the past year. The investigation seeks to determine the extent of their hacking activities and the number of locations compromised.
The prosecution further argued the need to uncover the involvement of other individuals in the case, particularly how the accused marketed and sold the illegally obtained footage. Given that the accused reside in different states, the method of accessing Payal Hospital’s CCTV system requires thorough investigation.
The prosecution revealed that the accused had created approximately 20 Telegram IDs, the names of which are crucial to the investigation. Determining the financial gains from selling the videos and tracing the money trail are also key objectives.
Yadav emphasised the necessity of custodial interrogation to reach the root of the matter, requesting 14 days of remand for all accused. However, the defence argued that the accused had cooperated with the investigation and their continued detention was unnecessary.
After hearing both sides, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate A.J. Makwana granted remand until March 3 for Ryan and Parit, and February 27 for Vaibhav.
The case took a turn when it was discovered that the accused had formatted their laptops and phones. Police investigations revealed that following the exposure of the case, Ryan and Parit attempted to destroy evidence by formatting their devices. However, the police have recovered the devices and are working to retrieve the deleted data.
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