India, July 20 -- The Delhi Police's Cyber Cell has arrested three alleged cyber fraudsters for duping a man of Rs 5.8 lakh in a sextortion case, officials said. The arrests were made following a complaint registered at the Cyber Police Station in northeast Delhi. The accused have been identified as Imran (23), son of Kayyum; Kunal (22), son of late Pappu; and Rajesh (18), son of Rajkumar, all residents of Faridabad in Haryana. Police registered an e-FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after a Ganga Vihar resident alleged he had been blackmailed using an obscene video.
According to investigators, the complainant received a WhatsApp video call on May 6 from an unknown woman who impersonated one of his social media friends. During the call, she allegedly recorded an objectionable video without his knowledge. Soon afterwards, the victim began receiving calls from multiple numbers. The callers allegedly posed as police officials, social media representatives and government authorities, threatening to circulate the video online, implicate him in criminal proceedings and have him arrested unless he paid money. Fearing the consequences, the complainant transferred around Rs 5.8 lakh in several instalments through different bank accounts, UPI IDs and QR codes before realising he had been defrauded.
A police team led by Inspector Rahul Kumar, Station House Officer of the Cyber Police Station, conducted a financial and technical investigation that traced part of the defrauded money to mule bank accounts linked to Rajesh and Kunal. Rajesh was arrested on June 17, following which Kunal was apprehended. Based on Kunal's disclosure, Imran, who allegedly withdrew the cheated money from ATMs, was also arrested. Police recovered a mobile phone allegedly used in the crime. During interrogation, the accused allegedly disclosed links to a Rajasthan-based organised sextortion syndicate.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.