Alwar police has arrested eight members of the gang of sextortion from Dausa, Rajasthan. The gang targeted high-profile people including bureaucrats and Indians settled abroad.
The accused created fake profiles on various social media platforms and befriended men while posing as women. They then enticed them to make WhatsApp nude calls by recording women’s live chats and then recording the victims’ calls.
At times the gang also targeted random people on WhatsApp through video calls and as soon the call was answered a woman appears on the screen and start stripping. The gang recorded video of their target with nude women and the game of blackmailing used to begin.
They blackmailed the victims and demanded extortion money using these obscene videos. They threatened to make their obscene video viral by uploading on the social networking website. Most of their victim got scared and used to pay them money in different mobile wallets.
The accused have admitted to extorting more than 15 crore rupees from their victim. The gang also targeted a Texas resident who ended up paying huge money to the gang,” said a senior police officer. The gang had taken several SIMs and bank account on fake ids and were using it to transfer and circulate their funds.
A police constable ran a decoy operation and soon came into contact with one of the accused masquerading as a woman. The accused demanded Rs 10,000 from the constable, following which a a person was setained near Roopbas flyover in Alwar. Police seized his mobile phone and found that messages and the video video calls sent to the constable were from the same SIM.
Police are estimating that the gang had duped over a hundred people as in such cases most victims refrain from reporting the matter to police for fear of social ostracism.
The worrying part for the cops is that almost 70-80 percent of people in Kot village in Dausa area are now involved in such crimes. Cybercrime has become a cottage industry in Dausa village. Alwar police is now trying to ascertain the number of victims targeted by the gang and bank accounts/investments where the gang has parked their money, said police official.
