Delhi Police arrest sextortionist from Mewat region

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Delhi Police have arrested a 22-year-old man on charges of sextortion, who had duped several victims to the tune of Rs 7 lakh recently. The accused has been identified as Wasim, a resident of Mungaskar village near Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

The police said this was the 12th arrest from the Mewat region since the beginning of this year.

According to the police, a complaint was received on March 12 from a resident of Mansarovar Park in Delhi wherein he stated that he received a WhatsApp video call from an unknown number in which a girl was performing an obscene act.

"After some time, the complainant started receiving extortion calls. Some persons introduced themselves as IPS officers and tried to extort money after threatening to post the victim's nude video on social media," said Rohit Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara).

The victim had transferred over Rs two lakh to the cyber thugs.

During investigation, the police collected all the relevant information including call details and WhatsApp chat records.

"All the bank details and phone numbers were analysed following which a raid was conducted in Bharatpur district from where the accused person was arrested. Three mobile phones and four SIM cards, which were used in commission of crime, were recovered from his possession," said Meena.

During interrogation, Wasim disclosed that his gang members used to make WhatsApp video calls to victims and played nude videos of girls using a second mobile phone and engaged the victim.

"The accused used to record screen shots of the video call to extort money from the victims by threatening to circulate the videos on social media. To commit the offence, they purchased SAIM cards and mobiles phones from West Bengal and managed the fraud bank accounts with the help of other co-accused persons," the officer said.