Sextortion gang impersonating as cops busted, one held
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 May, 2022 03:38 PM
New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) A Mewat-based gang, impersonating as Crime Branch sleuths and legal officials of YouTube, has been busted by Delhi Police for extorting money from gullible people by honey-trapping them.
The police have arrested one person in connection with the case, who has been identified as Asib Khan (26), a resident of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan, the police said.
Furnishing details, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north), Sagar Singh Kalsi, said some complaints were received on the MHA's Cyber Crime Portal regarding extortion by fake Crime Branch and YouTube officials on the pretext of lodging police complaints over obscene videos of victims and uploading of the same on YouTube.
Accordingly, the police registered an FIR under Section 384 (Punishment for extortion) of the Indian Penal Code at the cyber police station in the north district.
After lodging a case, a police team was constituted which conducted money trails and mounted technical surveillance/analysis of the mobile phone numbers linked to various mobile wallets.
The investigation revealed that the accused were operating from Mudiya village in Bharatpur district.
Subsequently, the police conducted a raid and detained Asib Khan.
"His mobile phone was checked. It was revealed that he was operating a fake bank account using internet banking," the DCP said.
Further analysis of bank statements disclosed that Rs 26 lakh were credited and then instantly debited from this account within one month.
Thereafter, it was found that one person, a resident of Sarai Rohilla, Delhi, was being extorted. The police then registered another case of extortion and arrested the accused Asib Khan.
During interrogation, it was revealed that several youth from Asib Khan's village would create fake Facebook profiles of girls and contact victims on WhatsApp after exchanging mobile numbers via Facebook Messenger.
The victims would receive WhatsApp video calls in which a pre-recorded video of a lady doing an obscene act would be played and this video would appear on the mobile screen of the victims. The accused caller then screen-recorded the video of the victim indulging in obscene acts.
They used to then blackmail the victims posing as officials from the Crime Branch and YouTube's legal team.
As many as 61 complainants listed their grievances before the Chief Minister during the 'Lok Milni'. He directed top officers present on the occasion to ensure immediate resolution of these complaints in a time-bound and result-oriented manner.
As per visuals released from the spot, thick fumes of black smoke along with a massive blaze could be seen billowing out of the ill-fated three-storey building. The firemen used the fire truck ladder to reach out to the maximum possible height to spray water over the blaze.
A 35-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly duping over 100 women on the pretext of marriage, an official said here on Friday. The accused, who has been identified as Farhan Taseer Khan, is himself married and stayed in a rented accomodation in Delhi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday dismissed its four Sub-Inspectors after placing them under arrest for demanding Rs 25 lakh bribe from a businessman in Chandigarh threatening him of implication in a terror case. The accused officials were identified as Sumit Gupta, Pardeep Rana, Ankur Kumar, Akash Ahlawat, all posted in Delhi office.
The latest arrestee, identified as Abdul alias Raja, was found involved in allegedly orchestrating violence and also provoking the crowd to resort to stone pelting during the Hanuman Jayanti procession.
Addressing a high-level meeting here, the Chief Minister categorically said in case any incident of drug supply comes to his notice from any part of the state, then the concerned Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) or the Commissioner of Police (CP) would be held solely accountable.
