17 May,2023 09:49 AM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
Representative image/iStock
On Wednesday, the Thane police arrested four people - three men and a woman for allegedly honey-trapping a shopkeeper and extorting rupees 6.9 lakh from him.
The accused woman visited the shop located in Shri Nagar last year in the month of September and befriended the victim.
"The woman then gained his sympathy and extracted some money from him," the police press release stated.
On April 1, 2023, the woman called the shopkeeper Thane Check Naka under the pretext of some work and asked him to help her buy some clothes. As the shopkeeper took her to a nearby shop for shopping on a scooter, the woman's husband spotted them and threatened the victim.
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"Later, the woman's husband along with two other men allegedly blackmailed the Thane shopkeeper and threatened the shopkeeper to circulate his video clips along with the accused's wife on a social media platform," the police said.
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The accused also threatened the shopkeeper that he would file a police complaint against him and book him under the charge of molesting his wife.
"Further, the accused allegedly extracted a total of Rs 6.9 lakh from him," the official said.
The woman's husband later asked for Rs 50,000 more from the shopkeeper following which the latter filed a police complaint on Saturday
The Shri Nagar police laid a trap and arrested the four accused. "They were booked on charges of blackmailing the complainant and extorting money from him," the release said.
A probe was on into the case, it added.