Punjab man nabbed for blackmailing Mumbai blogger

The police have sent Navjotsingh Sandhu’s mobile phone to the District Forensic Science Laboratory (DFSL) in Kalina to understand how he got access to the woman`s data

A 32-year-old man has been arrested from Zirakpur district of Punjab, for blackmailing a Kandivli-based food blogger whose phone he had allegedly hacked into when she visited Chandigarh last year.

An officer attached to Samata Nagar police station, where the woman had registered an FIR on August 29, told mid-day that the accused Navjotsingh Sandhu had been blackmailing her with her personal photographs, videos and demanding money.

Sandhu had been harassing and blackmailing the food blogger since October 2021, she approached Samata Nagar police station when the level of harassment crossed her tolerance level, said an officer.

How he met the woman

"The accused Navjotsingh Sandhu runs Facebook groups where most food bloggers of India are members. There was a competition among food bloggers in Chandigarh and the accused was anchoring the show. The complainant won the second prize in the competition and hence Sandhu was in touch with her," said an officer attached to Samata Nagar police station.

"The accused had been sending her, her personal photographs and videos which she had stored in her mobile phone gallery. Her phonebook was also compromised. We are yet to learn whether the personal data of the victim was hacked into or transferred when her cellphone was lying unattended," said another officer.

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Sandhu had been using fake Instagram accounts to send the complainant's personal photographs. "Though she blocked one account after she received one of her personal photos, the accused created another one to send her another photo. He would demand money to stop harassing her and when the woman refused to send him money, he had threatened to make her personal photos viral among her friends and relatives as he already had her phonebook details. He had been continuously blackmailing her since October 2021," said the officer.

"The woman succumbed to the pressure and till date transferred around Rs 50,000. The accused had given his g-pay account to make online transfers," he added.

He got access to her mobile

"During the food competition, the woman and the accused stayed in the same hotel in different rooms. Sandhu somehow got access to her mobile phone gallery and phonebook," the officer said.

"In a bid to mount pressure on her, Sandhu had also sent her personal photos to her brother who lives in Varanasi, close colleagues of her husband, her daughter and others. This amounts to blackmailing said the police officer.

After learning about the details of Sandhu, cyber cell as well as detection staff comprising Inspector Ganesh Pawar, APIs Ajay Kavde, Sandipan Ubale, Amol Bhagat, and constables got cracking on the case.

"Our team visited Punjab and arrested Sandhu from Zirakpur district of Punjab. He played the health card to stop him being sent on transit remand to Mumbai but our officers took medical opinion that allowed Sandhu to travel. Now, he is in our custody," Narendra Shinde, senior inspector of Samata Nagar police station told mid-day.

"Sandhu has been booked under sections 354 (a), 385, 500, 503, 506 of IPC and section 67(a) of IT Act," Shinde said. The investigating team has sent Sandhu's mobile phone to the District Forensic Science Laboratory (DFSL) in Kalina to understand how the accused got access to the woman's data to blackmail her.

"We have also got the details of a few other victims whom Sandhu blackmailed to extort money from them. He is not cooperating in the investigation," said
an officer.