Man blackmails Vasai couple, tries to extort money; booked

This picture has been used for representation purpose

The Manickpur police booked a man for trying to extort Rs 90,000 in bitcoins from two 20-year-olds on Instagram. The accused created a fake account on the social networking site, a Times of India report read.

The accused had called one of the victims on his mobile phone and threatened to upload photos on Instagram claiming that he has access to their photographs. He also threatened to share photos of their family members.

The victims initially agreed to pay Rs 50,000, but later approached the police, who then approached Instagram and found that the account was made created recently and was fake. Police suspect that someone known to the couple could have obtained their personal photos and used it to blackmail them. A case has been registered under IPC section 384 (extortion) and further investigations are on.

Meanwhile, Instagram has asked users to block people besides filing a report with the police. "Abusive people often lose interest once they realise you will not respond," it said.

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