LSE graduate, 2 more held in Delhi for extortion attempt from Thailand

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New Delhi: Three men, including a London School of Economics graduate, were arrested for allegedly attempting to extort money from a Delhi man to repay debts through a cyber fraud plot hatched in Thailand, an officer said on Saturday.

Sumit, 42, Prince, 35, and Nitish, 31, allegedly threatened a city-based businessman by impersonating a gangster and demanding payment in cryptocurrency, he said.

Nitish holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics, while the others have business and local backgrounds, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Nidhin Valsan said.

During interrogation, the three confessed that they were under heavy debts and conspired to extort money by using the name of a dreaded gangster.

As part of the plan, they travelled to Thailand, procured an international SIM card, and made calls from an online messaging platform from there, he said.

The complainant approached the Desh Bandhu Gupta Road Police Station earlier this week, alleging that he received an international WhatsApp call from an unknown number.

The caller, identifying himself as a gangster, allegedly threatened to kill the man's children if he did not transfer cryptocurrency and gave him a QR code, the DCP said.

A case under Section 308(4) (extortion) of the BNS was registered, and police launched an investigation.

Investigation led to the discovery that the call and the QR code originated from Thailand, Valsan said.

Police took help from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and traced earlier cryptocurrency transactions that helped them narrow down the suspects.

"Once the suspects landed in India from Thailand, they were apprehended," the officer said.

Sumit is a BCom graduate and jewellery trader from West Punjabi Bagh, while Prince is a class 9 dropout from Roshanara Road. Nitish, police said, is from Moti Nagar and is an LSE postgraduate.

Police said Sumit knew the target personally and had plotted the crime with the others to repay debts.

Two mobile phones used in the crime, including the one used to generate the QR code and another to make the call, have been recovered, police said.

Delhi Police London School of Economics Delhi Crime cybercrime cyber fraud