Extortion racket on pretext of ‘massage service’ busted
The arrested couple has confessed to have committed several other extortion attempts.
RAM GOPAL NAIK, deputy commissioner of police (crime)
NEWDELHI: A 25-year-old man and a woman were arrested for extorting money from a 62-yearold man by threatening to leak his “objectionable” pictures, police said on Friday. The elderly victim had been lured by the accused on pretext of a “massage service”, police said.
The elderly man, who claimed to be an IIT Delhi graduate, filed an extortion case with the Delhi Police’s crime branch on Wednesday and alleged that he was being blackmailed by three persons, including two women, and they were demanding ₹10 lakh from him, police said.
The victim alleged that three accused had already extorted ₹3 lakh in cash and cheques worth ₹4.5 lakh in their favour from him.
The arrested man was identified as Shadab Gowhar, hailing from Kashmir.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Ram Gopal Naik said the arrested couple and their female accomplice, who is still absconding, was running the extortion racket for the last one month. “The arrested couple has confessed to have committed several other extortion attempts,” DCP Naik said.
The victim said he came across a website that offered body massage services at desired locations by male masseuse. He said he selected the profile of a man who claimed to be one Armaan Sharma. Police officials said Gowhar was posing as Armaan Sharma. They met at a shopping mall in east Delhi on September 8 after which Gowhar took the victim to a guest house in Ghaziabad for the massage, said police.
Gowhar provided him the massage and took a payment of ₹8,000. Gowhar then demanded another ₹3,000 from him, saying he was facing financial crisis. The man transferred that amount into his account.
On September 18, the DCP said, Gowhar then lured the victim for another massage. During the second massage, two women entered the room and took his clothes. They allegedly assaulted the man and threatened that they would release his nude pictures and videos to his family if he did not pay them ₹10 lakh.
“When the elderly man asked Gowhar to call police, one of the women threatened him by saying that she will file a rape case against him. They took ₹3 lakh from him and asked him to arrange the remaining money,” added Naik. On Thursday, the complainant agreed to give them another ₹2 lakh and called them to a mall in Saket. “Our team laid a trap and caught the couple red handed. Efforts are on to nab the other woman,” Naik said.