Couple arrested for running extortion gang

◗ Accused arrested from a mall in Saket where they had come to collect 2 lakh from the victim

With the arrest of a 25 year old Kashmiri youth along with his girlfriend, the crime branch of Delhi police has claimed to have busted a honey trap and extortion racket.

The arrest comes after one of the victims of the couple approached the police on Wednesday claiming that the accused — Shadab Gowhar — and his accomplices had blackmailed and extorted ` 3 lakh from him.

Accused Gowhar, alias Arman Sharma, used to run a mobile shop in the Kashmir Valley, but during a protest in the Valley his shop was burnt by the crowd, leading to financial crisis. Gowhar jumped into crime world after he came to Delhi along with girlfriend.

According to the police, the victim had come in contact with Gowhar earlier this month while searching for massage service providers on the Internet.

The accused had introduced himself as Armaan Sharma and on September 8 asked the victim to come to a hotel room in Vaishali. He charged ` 12,000 for the massage, the police said.

Days later, Gowhar again asked the complainant to meet him for another massage session in the same hotel room, they said.

Around 20 minutes into the massage, there was a knock at the door and Gowhar opened it. Two of his female accomplices entered the room and immediately took away the victim’s clothes, wallet and mobile phone, they said.

As Gowhar began assaulting and abusing the victim, one of the women threatened to tear her clothes and implicate the victim in a fake rape case, the police said.

The trio then demanded ` 10 lakh from the victim who agreed to give them ` 3 lakh in cash which was kept in his car, they said.

The complainant was further forced to sign four cheques amounting to ` 4.5 lakh and was allowed to leave with a warning to arrange the remaining amount soon or his nude photos and videos would be shared with his family, they added.

The police managed to arrest Gowhar and his girlfriend from a mall in Saket where they had come to collect ` 2 lakh from the victim, they said.