Indore: 4 members of Rajasthan sextortion gang arrested

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Four members of a sextortion gang from Rajasthan were arrested by the city Crime Branch officials, the police said on Thursday. The accused used to post fake profiles on social media platforms and send messages for friendship to people. The accused were arrested during investigation into the suicide of a college employee who was being harassed by the accused after they captured his nude video.

Commissioner of police Harinarayanachari Mishra said a man had committed suicide in the Rajendra Nagar area on September 9. A sextortion gang was blackmailing him after making an objectionable video of him. The police registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC. During the investigation, it was found that the people harassing the man were from Rajasthan. Later, a team was constituted to hunt down the accused.

Following a tip, the team was sent to Bharatpur, in Rajasthan, to arrest the accused. The accused, named Rais, of Mudia village in Bharatpur district; Jishan, alias Billa, of Bhutka village in Bharatpur; Yasib, of Baneni in Bharatpur; and Harun Khan, of Mudia village were brought to the city. According to the police, the accused had grouped together and started blackmailing people in various cities and extorting money from them. The police came to know that some persons had even committed suicide after being harassed by the gang members as they used to blackmail the victims after capturing their objectionable videos through video calls.

Modus operandi

The accused confessed to the police that they used to make fake profiles on social media platforms using women’s names. Later, they used to send friend requests to random profiles. When the people responded to them, the accused used to befriend them. The accused would capture the complainants’ objectionable material during video calls and then blackmail them. Accused Rais, the gang leader, had made a fake profile under the name, Kusum, on a matrimony website. They used to provoke their victims to remove their clothes and make videos during the call.

The police officers have warned people not to be attracted to unidentified persons on social media or accept friend requests from them. Video calls should not be received from unidentified numbers before taking full information on them. If one does receive video calls from unidentified persons, the front camera of the mobile phone or other device should be kept hidden so that your video cannot be made by the accused.

Published on: Thursday, November 03, 2022, 11:59 PM IST