Gurugram: Security guard's suicide linked to online sextortion

Gurugram: A 32-year-old security guard, who died by suicide here last month, allegedly took the extreme step after falling victim to online sextortion, police said on Wednesday.

A woman had befriended him through WhatsApp and later tricked him into stripping on phone and started blackmailing him, they said.

This angle emerged on December 5 when the victim's widow received a message from the woman on the WhatsApp account linked his mobile number. The woman had demanded money and threatened that she would circulate his photos if the amount was not paid.

The victim's widow then approached the police, following which an FIR was registered at Rajendra park police station on Tuesday, they said.

According to the police, Anil Kumar, a native of Mahendergarh district, was working as security guard with a private builder company in Gurugram.

It was on November 15 he had died by suicide and his body was found hanging from a tree close to the construction site of the company near Dwarka Expressway.

The body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem report showed it was a case of death by hanging and no suicide note was found there.

It was on Tuesday when Manju, widow of Kumar, filed a complaint to police and claimed that he had died by suicide due to sextortion. She also submitted some proof obtained from the mobile of her husband.

"We were in deep sorrow because there was no issue to commit suicide by my husband and his mobile was switched off since then. It was on December 5 that I switched on his mobile and soon after got a WhatsApp message in which a woman was demanding money and threatening to make the objectionable photos of my husband viral.

"I scanned the phone to learn that my husband had become friends with her through Whatsapp. She extorted money from him by threatening to share his objectionable photos with me and other relatives and my husband committed suicide only due to that threat," Manju said in her complaint.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered against unknown woman under sections 306 (abatement to suicide), 384 (extortion) of the IPC at Rajendra park police station on Tuesday.

"After registering the FIR, we have started investigation and found a sum of Rs 72,000 was transferred through the Paytm account of the deceased to different accounts linked to some mobile numbers. We have identified the mobile numbers and they are being verified. Our team is on job and the accused will be arrested as earliest possible", said Shiv Archan, ACP, West.