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Online friendship turns into Rs 1 crore fraud: Bengaluru woman blackmailed with private photos, videos
Acting on technical intelligence, the police arrested one of the accused from Telangana's Nizamabad district and the second accused from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh.
Investigators said Mahesh, along with his accomplice Swamy Vishwanath, gradually forced the victim to hand over gold in small amounts. (File Photo)
The Bengaluru police said Tuesday they have arrested two men for allegedly threatening a woman they befriended on social media and coercing her into handing over gold ornaments worth Rs 85.65 lakh and Rs 20 lakh in cash.
According to police, the victim, a resident of an area under the K R Puram Police Station limits, had been in contact with the prime accused, Mahesh, for nearly one-and-a-half years after connecting with him on Snapchat. What began as a seemingly harmless online friendship gradually evolved into manipulation, coercion, and ultimately, blackmail, they added.
Investigators said Mahesh, along with his associate Swamy Vishwanath, gradually gained the woman’s trust before beginning to cite financial distress as a reason to seek money and gold from her. The police said Mahesh would frequently meet the victim in person and, over repeated interactions, collected cash and gold ornaments in small amounts, eventually increasing the frequency and value of the collections.
The accused allegedly captured screenshots and videos of the woman’s private moments during video calls and later used them to threaten her and continue forcing her to give him money. Amid the harassment, the woman handed over nearly 1 kg of gold ornaments along with Rs 20 lakh in cash.
“The accused built trust with the victim over a long period and repeatedly met her to collect valuables. When she demanded her jewellery back and was refused, she approached the police. The private content was also used to threaten her,” a police officer said.
“We have recovered a substantial portion of the stolen property. The accused had pledged the jewellery and invested the money in online gambling, but lost almost the entire amount,” the officer added.
Acting on technical intelligence, the police arrested Mahesh on March 3 in Kondur village in Telangana’s Nizamabad district. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and revealed the involvement of his accomplice. Swamy Vishwanath was subsequently arrested on March 19 in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
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Further investigation revealed that part of the stolen gold had been pledged at two banks and a jewellery shop in Hyderabad. Police teams recovered 571 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 85.65 lakh between March 20 and March 23.
Both accused have been remanded to judicial custody, and further investigation is ongoing.
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