New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS): The Patiala Session Court here on Saturday refused to grant anticipatory bail to accused Vishal Jha, in connection with the Bulli Bai App case after observing that the allegations against him are grave in nature as it is a direct onslaught upon the dignity and modesty of the women of a particular community.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana while rejecting his bail plea said: "I concur with the Ld.Addl.PP that to unravel the obscure and undetected aspects of the crime, sustained custodial interrogation of the applicant is desirable. Considering the totality of circumstances, I do not find any merits in the application at hand and the same is accordingly dismissed," the order read.

The court noted that other accused Neeraj Bishnoi in cahoots with Jha and other co-accused persons has developed the scandalous Bulli bai app.

Vishal Kumar Jha, 21, hailing from Patna, is an engineering student who was the first one to be arrested by Mumbai Police from Bengaluru. He and two others are booked under sections 154(A), 153(B), 295(A), 509, 500 and 354(D) of IPC and Section 67 of the IT Act.

The accused was earlier tested positive for Covid-19 and has been sent to a quarantine centre.

On January 1, the Bulli Bai app posted photos of several women of a particular religion including journalists, social workers, students and famous personalities.

It happened six months after the controversy of Sulli Deals.

Jha was one of the followers of Bulli Bai that led the police to the accused team.

Github which provided space to Sulli Deals, hosted the Bulli Bai app too. However, Github had later removed the user from its hosting platform.

But by then, Bulli Bai had sparked controversy nationwide.