The Cyber Crime Police of Visakhapatnam arrested a 26-year-old man from Telangana on charge of demanding money from a girl by threatening that he would morph her photographs and post them on the social media platforms. The accused allegedly befriended the girl masquerading as noted TV anchor Pradeep Machiraju.
The accused has been identified as V. Srinivas (26) from Kolluru village in Medak district of Telangana.
According to Visakhapatnam Cyber Crime Inspector V. Gopinath, the girl reportedly had sent a friend request to Srinivas who maintained a fake Facebook account in the name of TV anchor Pradeep Machiraju in 2016. After he accepted the request, the duo kept chatting on social media platforms. After one and a half year, they decided to meet up in Hyderabad.
Threat messages
After meeting Srinivas in Hyderabad, the girl realised that she was cheated. Police said that Srinivas, however, convinced her that he was in love with her and she accepted it. However, they broke up later.
“Last month, the girl started receiving messages on WhatsApp and Facebook from an unknown number and account in which she was threatened that her pictures would be morphed and uploaded on the social media platform unless she deposited money in a given bank account,” Mr. Gopinath said quoting the complaint the girl lodged on April 16.
Acting on the complaint, the Cyber Crime Police arrested Srinivas.
Cases pending
“Srinivas took some picture of the girl when they were in the relationship. Using those, Srinivas started to threaten the girl. He has similar cases registered against him in Hyderabad too,” Mr. Gopinath added.
The accused has been sent to remand.