The cyber crime police on Wednesday cracked a honeytrap case by arresting three persons, including a woman, who reportedly blackmailed a local and forced him to pay ₹24 lakh.
The arrested were identified as Shaik Abdul Raheem (30) of Krishna district, Gunda Jyothi (28), and her husband Gunda Veera Satish (34), both hailing from Jeedimetla in Hyderabad.
Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crimes) V. Suresh Babu said that on November 9, 2020, the victim in the case had received a bulk message “Call Me Anytime, I am your Bestfriend - to talk call 55678557”. The victim called the number from his mobile, and came in contact with another woman. The woman reportedly asked the victim to make a nude video call to her and passed her mobile number to him. Believing her words, he reportedly made a call. However, the woman took screenshot during the video call and started to blackmail him by telling that she would make his nude photo go viral, from the very next day, if he failed to pay the money demanded by her.
The DCP said that the victim thereafter had reportedly deposited nearly ₹24 lakh, in phases into various bank accounts which were provided by the accused. Irked by their harassment, the victim approached the cyber crime police on July 16, this year.
Based on the complaint, Inspector of cyber crime police station, R.V.R.K. Chowdhary formed a team with Sub-Inspector Ravi Kishore and others. Tracking the mobile phone number of the accused and the bank accounts details as provided by the victim, the cyber crime police team zeroed in on the accused and arrested them.
The victim is said to be a 26-year-old software engineer and he reportedly had to borrow money from others, to pay the accused.
The police have recovered ₹3.50 lakh cash, a laptop, five mobile phones, ATM cards and a few other things. The arrested were sent in remand.
In October 2019, the city cyber crime police had arrested a 26-member gang from Kolkata for allegedly duping a youth from the city to the tune of ₹18 lakh. The gang reportedly ran an online dating website from where they lured the youth. The cyber crime police bagged an award for Best Crime Detection for busting the honeytrap case.
