Man held for extorting money after coercing girl into sharing obscene pictures

New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) A man has been arrested for allegedly extorting money from a girl and her family after coercing her into sharing obscene pictures of herself, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Sumit Kumar (28), was previously arrested in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in 2020. He secured bail in February 2021 and was declared a proclaimed offender in March 2024 after failing to appear before the court.

According to police, the complainant reported that his daughter received a message on social media from a hacked ID of her ex-tutor. The sender falsely claimed that her nude photographs were available online and sent a phishing link requiring her social media credentials.

Upon login, the accused hacked her account and coerced her to share obscene images under fear and deception.

He had also blackmailed the complainant by sending her morphed images and threatening to circulate them unless she paid him money, a senior police officer said.

On Monday, he was arrested from a wine shop in Noida following a well-coordinated operation, the officer said.

Police said the accused is a repeat cyber-offender and had earlier been arrested in another case in Malviya Nagar for a similar modus operandi — hacking social media accounts of women, impersonating them, and extorting money by threatening to share their morphed images.

During interrogation, Kumar disclosed that after jumping bail in 2021, he had fled to his native village in Bihar and later took up a job as a housekeeping supervisor in an IT firm in Noida, believing he would not be traced.

He confessed to committing such crimes to make easy money, police said.

Police said efforts are underway to examine whether the accused was involved in any other similar offences. PTI SSJ HIG HIG