Kochi: Thrikkakara police on Friday formally arrested a 20-year-old second-year BBA (Logistics) student of Bharata Mata College in connection with allegations of using artificial intelligence to morph photographs of teachers into sexually explicit visuals and circulating them on Telegram.

The student, Sreehari V S, was taken into custody late Thursday night amid protests on the college campus. His arrest was formally recorded on Friday morning following interrogation. He is scheduled to be produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kakkanad on Friday afternoon.

The police have also added Section 67A of the Information Technology Act, a non-bailable provision dealing with publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit acts in electronic form. The charge was added following a technical examination of the digital content, a senior police officer said.

“The arrest has been recorded, and an additional charge under Section 67A of the IT Act has been invoked because the visuals were transformed into sexually explicit acts,” the officer said.

The police are also investigating the allegations that the student was allegedly selling the morphed images for money.

“There are allegations that he sold the images in certain Telegram groups. So far, our investigation has found no evidence of any monetary transaction or financial gain. He shared the content on Telegram, but it was confined to small groups with limited members who engage in erotic content. There was no evidence of monetary benefit involved, but we are investigating that,” the officer said.

The police said that while concerns were initially raised that several students may have been targeted, the investigation so far has identified only teachers as affected parties.

“Among the students, we have not detected any victims yet; only teachers have been identified as affected parties,” the officer said.

The student was initially booked under Section 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 67 of the IT Act and Section 119(1)(b) of the Kerala Police Act.

The case came to light after a student reportedly noticed the morphed material online and alerted a faculty member. The college subsequently expelled the student and handed over his mobile phone to the police for investigation.

The formal arrest comes a day after protests were held on the Bharata Mata College campus, with students demanding stringent action against the accused. The police are continuing their technical examination of the seized device and recording statements as part of the investigation.