A 50-year-old Mewat-based man, who sextorted the victims, especially senior citizens, was arrested from Bharatpur area in Rajasthan, an official said on Wednesday.
The official said that they have also recovered 140 videos, screenshots of victims from the eight mobile phones of the accused identified as Alamuddin, a resident of village Abhaipur in district Bharatpur.
“In one mobile, some chats with the victims were also and the accused was using pictures of senior officers of Delhi Police as WhatsApp photo,” said the official.
The arrest comes after a complaint was received by Delhi Police on June 5 from Moolchand Garg, who alleged that on May 31, he had received an unknown WhatsApp video call in which a girl was sitting undressed and thereafter the call was disconnected.
In his complaint, the victim alleged that the girl took a screenshot with his face. After some time, he received calls from two other numbers, claiming to be from the cybercrime division in Delhi. They informed him that the alleged screenshot was about to go viral.
The victim was threatened to pay a substantial amount, or else the video would be quickly circulated, leading to his arrest. Consequently, the complainant transferred the sum of Rs 47,076 to the bank account provided by the fraudster.
“During the investigation, a specific number was identified that was active in the Abhaipur area of Rajasthan. On June 8, a police team, accompanied by local law enforcement, reached Abhaipur and successfully arrested Alamuddin,” said Rohit Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara).
Upon searching Alamuddin, eight mobile phones and six SIM cards, which are considered case property, were recovered from his possession.
“Subsequent analysis of the mobile phones revealed the existence of 140 screenshots featuring various victims, the majority of whom were senior citizens. These screenshots depicted the victims alongside explicit images of an undressed girl,” said the DCP.
Furthermore, Alamuddin confessed that he and his two sons had committed similar crimes against numerous victims, earning a significant amount of money through these means.
Alamuddin has been remanded to judicial custody.
“The investigation is currently ongoing to identify other members of the gang, trace additional accounts related to their activities, and establish connections between other complaints and victims associated with the gang,” said the DCP.
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