How singer Abhijeet was arrested for harassing me online, despite Delhi Police

In the first-ever case of its kind, former singer Abhijeet - who subjected me to online abuse by using  sexual expletives on Twitter - was arrested and released on bail by the Mumbai Police. The singer had resorted to vile abuse when, on Twitter, I called out his claim that Chennai Infosys techie Swathi's murder was "love jihad".

He was taken into custody by Mumbai Police on July 26, and later released on bail.

Abhijeet's career has been torpedoed by the influx of Pakistani singers and he is not new to controversies. In 2015, when Salman Khan was sentenced to five years in jail in the 2002 hit-and-run case, Abhijeet went on a rampage on Twitter and compared the people the actor had allegedly run over to "dogs who deserved their fate". The former singer, who has a verified Twitter handle, was forced to delete the filthy tweets by the police who threatened to get his account removed.

And thereby hangs a tale. The "virat abuser" who supposedly rejoined the BJP and calls himself a proud "Hindu nationalist" tried to incite communal passions over Chennai Infosys techie Swathi's murder, falsely implying that her attacker was a Muslim. The singer has nearly 70,000 followers and his mass appeal is worrying. I had called upon authorities to act against him for communalising the murder.

This triggered a series of sexually loaded tweets from the singer, which cannot possibly be reproduced in any news outlet. Abhijeet not only abused me, but also attacked Rifat Jawaid, editor of online news portal Janta ka Reporter, dubbing him a "Pakistani ISI agent". He also targeted senior AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon who had questioned his filthy innuendo-laden tweets.

I was asked by the Mumbai Police to register a zero FIR after they took notice of the awful comments tweeted by the former vocalist. I was informed that I could register an FIR in Delhi, which would be transferred to Mumbai, where the actor resides, to initiate further action. I followed the cops' advice.

Imagine my horror when far from helping me, the Delhi Police only reluctantly registered an FIR, and despite receiving seven letters from me, refused to transfer the case to Mumbai. They also failed to act or investigate. Neither did they record my statement, nor issue summons to Abhijeet.

This, in spite of Union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi setting up a helpline for women facing online abuse, and stating on record that it was Abhijeet's vitriolic tweets which pushed her to act. Maneka got trolled for doing her job, with even BJP supporters attacking her left, right and centre. The trolls seemed to see it as an interference in their right to sexually harass women, while pretending they were concerned about their freedom of expression.

The fact that sexual harassment is an offence under the IPC was lost on them. The fact that the ministry would only act on serious complaints, and not police social media was lost on them.

Abhijeet even issued threats to me on national TV saying "Mei usko dekh loonga" and refused to apologise. He was feted as a hero by the perverts who live to troll women and milked the publicity for all it was worth.

I had told all the media outlets which approached me that I would only speak after action was taken. I am grateful to Mumbai Police that they acted on Preeti Sharma Menon's complaint and arrested him. I even told them I would fly to Mumbai to register an FIR only to be told it can be done only once.

I am happy that a high-profile habitual offender, who has earlier been booked for molesting a woman in a Durga Puja event in 2015 has been brought to book. However, is it not deeply worrying that the Delhi Police chose not to act against a man, who is perceived to be close to the BJP?

Even Subramanian Swamy gave him an audience despite being acquainted with me. I hope the arrest sends a much needed message to Abhijeet and his ilk. I was told he wept in front of the police officials, shaking with fear. So much for social media tigers.

I will not tolerate any form of abuse or slander. Incidentally, Delhi Police is still busy protecting the cowardly Twitter handle Lutyen's Insider despite obtaining the user's identity details. In this case too, I plan to take the matter to court.