The Sewree police on Thursday arrested three men from the Darukhana area for their alleged involvement in a sex scandal since 2019.
The matter came to light on Monday during an argument between one of the victims and an accused. “During a fight between them, one of the accused started blackmailing the victim about a video that was under his possession. That is when the victim approached the police, and we began the investigation,” said an official at the Sewree police station.
During the course of the investigation, the police found out that three men were involved in the matter. “These three, since 2019, were clicking pictures and shooting videos of women through windows and doors of the houses in slums. They mainly kept these photos and footage with themselves in a pen drive for their entertainment,” said deputy commissioner of police Geeta Chavan, Port Zone.
After identifying the accused, the police arrested them while subsequently seizing all their gadgets including smartphones, pen drive, etc, from their residents.
The three have been identified as Satish Harijan, 29, Stephan Nadar, 21, and Sarwana Harijan, 23. They resided in a slum in the Boat Hard Road area at Reay Road, and have known each other for a long time.
A case has been registered against the three accused under sections 354c (voyeurism), 292 (sale of obscene items), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant sections under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The police said the four primary victims of the case had provided immense cooperation from their end to the police to solve the case within three days. Further investigation in the case is underway along with the assistance of cyber police and the Mumbai Crime Branch to find out if they have circulated or sent the photos or videos to anyone.
