Thane: A 39-year-old corporate consultant from Thane has allegedly lost ₹6.50 lakh after being lured by a woman on a video call, a police officer from Kasarwadavali police station said on Wednesday.
Kasarwadavali police station Senior Inspector Rajesh Babshetty said, "As per the complaint from the victim, he received a WhatsApp video call from a number on March 17, 2023, where a woman spoke to him. While still on the call, she suddenly undressed herself following which the man immediately disconnected the call. After some time, the man received a video of the woman and some screenshots wherein he was seen conversing with her. He then immediately deleted the contents."
The Whatsapp trap
Babshetty further added, "The next day, the man received a call from an unknown number wherein the caller posed as the police commissioner of Delhi. The caller informed the man that a woman was running a sex racket and the police while making efforts to arrest her came across the man's video which was about to be uploaded on social media. The caller asked the man to contact a person referred by him if he wanted to stop the video from being uploaded on social media. When the man called that person, he allegedly demanded ₹50,000 from him. The man soon made the payment out of the fear of being defamed."
Police registers a case of blackmailing and extortion
The victim later received a call from different persons between March 18 and 25 and he was allegedly extorted to the tune of ₹6.50 lakh. "Based on the complaint on Tuesday we registered an FIR against 15 unidentified persons under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), and provisions of the Information Technology Act. As of now no arrest has been made and we are further probing the case," said Babshetty.
