Two held for blackmailing woman

Armed with intimate photographs and videos of a woman, two men allegedly tried to extort Rs.10 lakh from her in East Delhi’s Anand Vihar.

The woman first pleaded with the extortionists to spare her. When her requests went unheeded, she approached the police, who nabbed the accused within two days.

The police have recovered two pen drives containing pictures and videos of the woman with a man, who is not her husband. Four mobile phones used for blackmail and extortion have also been recovered, said Rishi Pal, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).

The arrested men have been identified as Rajeev Gupta and Akash Pathak, both residents of Anand Vihar. Rajeev works at a restaurant, while Akash is unemployed.

Rajeev, who knew the victim for several years, recently learnt about her relationship. He decided to capture the duo’s private moments on his mobile phone. Once he obtained the photos and video clips, he roped in Akash to blackmail her.

Since the victim did not know Akash and it was unlikely that he would be suspected for the crime, Rajeev got a false first information report of mobile theft registered. That, he believed, would help him escape legal troubles if the police traced the calls to him. He then obtained a SIM card using a fake identity card and used that number to make the extortion calls.

“The caller threatened to upload the photos and videos on the Internet, as well as send them to the victim’s relatives if she did not cough up Rs.10 lakh,” said Mr. Pal.

Since the victim neither had the money nor was aware of their identities, she approached the police for help. A case was registered at Anand Vihar police station. The investigators asked the victim to pretend that she was going to pay the extortion amount. That exposed Akash to the police. He was arrested. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to the crime and revealed Rajeev’s involvement. Rajeev too was arrested.

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