Kolkata: Three persons were arrested for honey-trapping, blackmailing and extorting money from a Delhi-based cricketer, the police said on Sunday.
The three were arrested late on Saturday night.
Identity withheld of cricketer
The police did not disclose the name of the victim for the sake of protecting the cricketer's reputation. However, the three arrested in this connection have been identified as Rishav Chanda, Subhonkar Biswas and Shiva Singh.
At the same time, the investigative officials concerned have confirmed that the principal mastermind of the honey-trapping racket was still absconding and the police were trying to track him. The police did not disclose the identity of the absconding accused.
It is learnt that the said cricket came from Delhi to participate in some matches in Kolkata at the end of October. He had put up in a posh hotel in the Salt Lake area. There through a dating app he came in touch with the accused who promised association with someone of the opposite sex of his choice.
Intimate moments videographed
On November 1, he met the four accused, which included the arrested and one absconding, at a bus-stop in the Baguiati area which comes under the Bidhannagar City Police. There the victim was shown some photographs and was asked to choose from them. After he selected one of those shown in the photograph, he was introduced to her. But he was unaware that while he was spending time with the girl, his intimate moments with her were video-recorded secretly.
Thereafter on the same day, the four accused contacted the victim, showed him the videos and demanded a hefty sum of money. To save his social prestige, he immediately transferred Rs 60,000 to their accounts through net-banking and also handed them over his gold chain and costly mobile phone.
However, as he started receiving more ransom calls, finally on November 2, he contacted the local Baguiati Police Station and narrated the details. The police started investigating and finally on Saturday, three accused were arrested from the Baguiati area, while the fourth accused is on the run.
