Mumbai Crime: 23-year-old man poses as girl on Facebook, tries to extort Rs 50,000 from businessman; held

Photo for representational purpose

A 23-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for posing as a girl and trying to extort Rs 50,000 from a south Mumbai businessman by blackmailing him with a video of him doing a sexual act.

The accused, identified as Anup Singh, is an agent of a bank's customer service centre in Agra. He chatted with the businessman ‘as a girl' on Facebook, recorded the act and threatened to make the video public if he did not pay up, stated a report in The Times of India.

D B Marg police arrested Singh from Agra.

"The businessman had received a friend request from a girl on his Facebook account in January. His mobile number was on his page. When he accepted the request, ‘she' sent him a message saying she had seen his photos on FB and that she was a fan. The businessman received a video call from her and saw a nude girl on the other side. Her face was not visible in the call. She was engaging in a sexual act. After some time, the businessman got another call from the number. The 'girl' asked him to indulge in the sexual act over the call. He followed her instructions and the caller video recorded his act," said an officer.

Singh then sent the video to the businessman and demanded Rs 50,000 for not making it public. He also sent him a screenshot of the victim's Facebook friends list and threatened that the video would be sent to all his friends and relatives, if he does not pay up. Initially, the businessman sent Rs 5,000 via a payment app. "He told the accused that he had no money at the time and asked if he could pay the rest in monthly installments. The accused agreed," added the officer.

"The businessman, also a loan broker, approached the police to block his and Singh's Facebook accounts. Police suggested he file an FIR, so the perpetrator could be nabbed," said a source.

Besides booking Singh under sections of the IT Act, the police also invoked sections of extortion. A team, led by inspector Raja Bidkar and comprising officers Rakesh Shinde, Pradeep Patil and Balwant Bharade, was formed to crack the case.

Investigators then took the accused's WhatsApp number from the businessman, found his call data record, location and registered name. They contacted the payment app and sought details about the account the money was transferred to, and tracked Singh to Agra.