Engineer arrested for stalking, extorting money from aspiring model

Dongri police formed a special team and laid a trap. (Representational Image)

A 26-year-old engineer was arrested by Mumbai Police on Friday for allegedly stalking and cheating a 25-year-old aspiring model from South Mumbai.

Police said the accused was arrested red-handed when he arrived in Prabhadevi to receive the money from the complainant.

The accused Chintan Gangar befriended the complainant on Facebook in December 2017. On learning that she wanted to become a model, he approached her on Instagram through a fake handle ‘mad_maker_production’.

An officer from Dongri police station said, “Gangar, through his fake handle, alleged that he could help her in her modelling career. He offered her a job with a blog. After she agreed, the complainant was asked to share a few objectionable pictures. He also demanded Rs 40,000 to get her a modelling assignment.”

The complainant shared her pictures with the accused though the instagram account and transferred Rs 40,000 in the account number provided by the accused, police said. “Later, when the accused stopped to reply to her messages, the complainant filed a complaint with the Dongri police station,” said an investigator.

While police were investigating her complaint, the accused approached her again on Thursday. He sent her the pictures, which she had shared in December, and threatened to post them on social media, if she didn’t give him Rs 50,000, police said.

Dongri police formed a special team and laid a trap. “The complainant was asked to call the accused to Prabhadevi to receive the money and as soon as he arrived he was nabbed,” said an officer. The accused is a resident of Vile Parle and has been staying with his parents. An investigating officer, assistant police inspector Jabbar Tamboli, confirmed the arrest and said, “The accused has committed the crime for the first time. We are still verifying whether he duped or extorted money from others besides the complainant.”

The accused has been booked under sections 354 (D) (stalking), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 385 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced in Sewri court on Saturday and has been remanded in police custody till Tuesday.