Kolkata, Jan 30, 2020-
Kolkata police have arrested three persons, including two members of prominent Kolkata business families, for allegedly blackmailing women after getting into physical relationships with them and making videos of their intimate moments.
Video clips of 182 women in compromising positions have also been recovered from the suspects, a police officer said.
Kolkata police joint commissioner (crime) Murlidhar Sharma said more people could be involved in the racket.
“That’s under investigation. There can be more,” Sharma told when asked whether there is a bigger conspiracy or more people were part of the racket.
The accused were presented before a city court, which remanded them in police custody till February 6.
The tapes were allegedly recorded by the scions of the two business families over a period of seven years, said Sharma.
According to the police, Anish Loharuka’s family owns several hotels, while Aditya Aggarwal’s family runs a popular ethnic wear chain.
The two would strike up friendships with women, get intimate and develop physical relationships, and record photos and videos of their intimate moments. The suspects would then break the relationship.
The third arrested person, Kailash Yadav, was employed as a cook of one of the two accused and played the role of the extorter directly by calling up the victims and forcing them to pay money after threatening them that their videos would be leaked on social media.
The police started looking into the case after receiving a complaint of cyber crime in November from a woman.
According to the complainant, she initially paid Rs five lakh after receiving a blackmail call “from the unidentified caller” with some of the video clips, but when he again demanded Rs 10 lakh threatening to release the clips online otherwise, she decided to approach the police.
Yadav was nabbed earlier this month for allegedly making telephone calls to blackmail her.
Based on his statement during questioning, Loharuka and Aggarwal were taken into custody.
The police have seized a laptop containing the videos and photographs purportedly belonging to Loharuka and sent it for forensic screening.
The police also retrieved the call records and found messages sent to the victims from the seized mobile phone of Yadav.
Police sources said the folders in the laptops contained “almost dossiers” about each of the women including their names and other details, and their backgrounds.
The sources said police picked up Yadav by tracing the mobile tower location of the number from which he had called the woman.
The hard drive of the laptop was also recovered based on Yadav’s interrogation. (Agency)
