SUSPECTS HIRED B’LURU-BASED IT FIRM, SAY POLICE

BHOPAL: The alleged extortion racket busted in Madhya Pradesh last week, which used to blackmail top bureaucrats and politicians after discreetly recording their sexual escapades, had hired a Bengalurubased software firm to store over 1,000 audio and video clips as well messages in “safe” servers, a police official involved in the probe said.

A special investigation team (SIT) of the Madhya Pradesh police is investigating the alleged extortion racket or what is being called the “honey trap” scandal. Close to 50 people, including political leaders and bureaucrats, were allegedly blackmailed by the gang, six of whom were arrested last week.

The prime suspect, Shweta Vijay Jain, had hired the company owned by one Santosh Kumar to store audio-video clips and messages in certain servers, the police officer cited above said requesting anonymity.

“For every video, Whatsapp chat or message with the victims, they [the gang members] got an encrypted backup data with the company to ensure that even if their phones or laptops were taken away, they had the data. Only certain persons in the gang had access to this data. The company also had a local office in Bhopal,” the officer said.

The officer said an MP police team has left for Bengaluru to question Kumar and others officials of the company who were allegedly in touch with Jain. The police are also questioning five software engineers who work at the company’s Bhopal office.