Gang of six held in Maharashtra's Shirdi for extortion and blackmail bid

PUNE: The rural police have busted a six-member gang, including a woman, on the charge of blackmailing and extorting Rs20,000 from three shopkeepers and their two friends from Kamshet on March 1.
The gang disrobed three of the five victims at gunpoint and videographed them. They threatened to circulate the clips on social media and demanded Rs2 lakh for not doing so. They took Rs20,000 online before letting them go.
One of the victims, who runs a pharmacy shop, filed a complaint with the Kamshet police, following which inspector Sanjay Jagtap and his team arrested all six, including the woman (20), from Shirdi on Tuesday. "Three of the arrested men are criminals on police records with body offences and illegal arms possession cases to their names," Jagtap said.
On February 28, the complainant and his two neighbouring shopkeepers had secured the woman's cellphone number to contact a call girl, but disconnected the call after a man answered it. On March 1, one of the other two told the complainant that the woman had called back and was ready to meet near a wedding hall in Kamshet. "The same night, the trio and one more friend went to the spot in a car and found the gang waiting," Jagtap said.
He added, "The gang thrashed the complainant and one more victim with iron rods. They asked the other two friends to go and took the beaten duo to an isolated spot in Kusgaon. They called the person, who had given them the contact there. When he reached, they took his car and demanded Rs2 lakh."
"The trio was hit again, stripped and videographed, with threats to make the clips go viral. The man who had found the contact was allowed to leave with the promise that he would transfer Rs20,000 to an account, from which the gang withdrew money in an ATM on Talegaon MIDC road. The other two were then allowed to leave later," said Jagtap.