Sextortion racket busted in Delhi, kingpin among four held

New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) The kingpin and three members of a sextortion racket who extorted Rs 35,000 from a Delhi resident after blackmailing him with an obscene video have been arrested, police said on Friday.

The complainant was initially contacted on a dating app and later, the accused connected with him on social media and made a video call, during which a pre-recorded obscene clip of a woman was played, they said.

Their modus operandi was to lure victims through dating apps using fake profiles, engaging them in flirtatious chats, and inducing them to participate in obscene video calls. They used to record calls without the victims’ knowledge and later used to blackmail them, they said.

“The complainant was manipulated into undressing during the call, and his video was secretly recorded,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said.

Subsequently, the accused sent the recorded clip to the victim and threatened to circulate it on social media unless he paid Rs 35,000, he said.

The victim transferred the money to a bank account provided by the fraudster. When further demands were made, the complainant lodged a report on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), the officer said.

Those arrested have been identified as Armaan Khan (21), the kingpin, Mangal Singh (31), Shyam Singh (21), and Aasid Khan (37), he said.

“Initially, Mangal Singh and Shyam Singh were arrested from Delhi. Based on their interrogation, the main accused, Armaan Khan, was arrested from Mewat in Rajasthan,” the officer said.

Khan used multiple mobile phones and fake identities to contact victims and record their videos. One of his phones contained the video sent to the complainant, while another had a collection of similar videos involving different individuals.

Further investigation led to the arrest of another accused, Aasid Khan, who was allegedly responsible for supplying the payment scanner used to receive the extorted amount in Mangal Singh’s account. PTI SSJ NB