23-yr-old man held for rape and extortion of south Mumbai-based woman.

He was then produced in a Bengaluru court, which sent him to Mumbai on a transit remand.

A 23-year-old man has been arrested from Bengaluru for allegedly raping, filming and extorting Rs 5 lakh from a south Mumbai-based woman.

Officers of JJ Marg police, who had been monitoring his movements from Punjab to Bengaluru for the last 45 days, had to pose as food delivery boys to arrest him on October 2.

The matter came to light when the 22-year-old woman, who works in a gym, filed a complaint with the police, leading to the registration of an FIR on August 17.

The woman, in her complaint, has said that she was introduced to the accused, a football player, in September 2017 on social media platform Snapchat. The police said the duo chatted frequently and went on to even share contact numbers.

“He had sustained an injury on the thigh and had come to Mumbai for treatment last December. They would frequently talk and eventually decided to meet,” said an officer from JJ Marg police station.

However, the woman in her complaint alleged that the accused tricked her into visiting his hotel, where he allegedly forced himself on her and made a video of the act. “The woman went with him as he had promised to marry her. However, a day later, he sent her the video,” said the officer.

Threatening to upload the video on social media, the accused started demanding money from her, said police. “Scared of the consequences, the woman agreed to pay up… He would even assault her when she refused to pay him,” said the officer.

The police said that the accused initially took cash from the woman but when the lockdown was imposed, she was forced to transfer the amount to his bank account. From December 2019, the accused extorted Rs 5 lakh from her and the demands kept increasing, the woman approached the police.

The police went on to register a case of rape, unnatural offence, extortion, cheating assault and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act.

The JJ Marg police learnt that the accused is from Punjab. On August 31, the officers learnt that he was staying in Bengaluru with a woman. “He stayed at a gated society and while entering, the watchman seeks permission from the resident… this would have alerted the accused,” said the officer.

While again scrutinising his call data records, the police learnt that he frequently ordered food from an application-based firm. “We ordered food from them when we found the accused doing the same. Our officers then went to the society posing as food delivery boys. After seeking permission from the accused, we went up to this house arrested him on October 2,” the officer said.

He was then produced in a Bengaluru court, which sent him to Mumbai on a transit remand.

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