Gujarat teen held for sextortion of Mumbai women

The Antop Hill police have arrested a 19-year-old Gujarat resident for allegedly targeting Mumbai-based women in a sextortion scam over the last month.

According to the Antop Hill police, the accused has been identified as Aditya Ravindra (19), a resident of Gandhidham in Gujarat. The police said that earlier this year, a total of 22 women approached them to complain that they were being blackmailed for money.

"The accused was morphing pictures of the victims from their social media accounts into pornographic content and sending them to the victims via social media, demanding small amounts of money from them in exchange for not uploading these clips on social media," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Patil, Zone IV.

Even as the complaints started piling up, the local cyber crime cell of the Antop Hill police station started probing the matter. Based on the details of the e-wallet through which Ravindra was accepting payments, the police sent a team to Gandhidham and picked up the accused for inquiries. He was placed under arrest on Wednesday after inquiries established his role in the offence and brought back to Mumbai.

"The accused is currently in police custody and we are investigating to find out if he has similarly targetted any other women in the past," Patil said.