Kolkata, Sept. 10 -- In a swift operation, the Howrah Rural Police rescued a minor girl from a hotel room in Kolkata's New Market area.
The girl had allegedly been lured through a social media trap and made to hide in the hotel room and switch off her mobile phone while the accused demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh.
According to sources, the victim, a resident of Jagatballabhpur in Howrah, allegedly fell into a trap on Instagram. A few months ago, she met a youth on the social media platform. After several online chats, the accused recently proposed that they meet somewhere in Kolkata. On September 7, the girl left home with some money and travelled by bus to the Esplanade area. There, she booked a room at a hotel in the New Market area.
Once she reached the hotel, the criminals directed her to share her WhatsApp credentials and switch off her mobile phone. Later, using her contact list, the cyber criminals contacted her mother on WhatsApp and demanded the ransom, along with a threat to kill the girl.
Following a complaint filed by the panicked family on September 8, the Howrah Rural Police Cyber Cell tracked the location of the girl's mobile phone. A police team raided the New Market hotel room on Wednesday night and successfully rescued the minor.
Howrah Rural SP Amit Verma stated that initial investigations point towards cyber kidnapping, in which the victim unknowingly fell into a trap that appears to be an abduction but, in reality, involves the victim leaving home and confining themselves by choice.
In such cases, family members find the mobile phone switched off, while the criminals use the social media credentials to demand a ransom.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.