The Bengaluru police on Monday arrested a preschool principal for allegedly extorting money from the father of a five-year-old student of the institute with whom she was in a relationship. The Central Crime Branch (CCB) also arrested two of her associates who allegedly blackmailed the 34-year-old parent by threatening to leak his private photos on social media if he did not pay Rs 20 lakh to the accused teacher, Sridevi Rudagi. Rudagi, 25, who runs the pre-school, and Ganesh Kale, 38, and Sagar, 28, have been remanded in judicial custody. According to the police, Ramesh (name changed), a 34-year-old trader from Kalasipalya in West Bengaluru, became acquainted with Rudagi after he enrolled one of his daughters in the preschool in 2023 and their relationship grew stronger. "Ramesh purchased a separate SIM card and phone to communicate with Rudagi, exchanging messages and video calls via WhatsApp. Occasionally, they met in person. Over time, she extracted Rs 4 lakh from him. In January, Rudagi allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh and suggested they live together. She also visited Ramesh’s home when his family was away and borrowed Rs 50,000," said an officer. Investigations revealed that Rudagi also intimidated the victim by making false claims about her strong connections with a former assistant commissioner of police in the Malleswaram sub-division. The police said that the relationship soured in early March when Ramesh, who was in financial distress, sought the transfer certificate of his daughter as he was planning to relocate his family to Gujarat. "At Rudagi's office, he was confronted by Kale and Sagar who demanded Rs 20 lakh to keep the alleged private videos and photos of him with Rudagi a secret. To safeguard his reputation, Ramesh agreed to pay Rs 15 lakh and initially transferred Rs 1.9 lakh. However, Kale and Sagar continued to pressure him for the remaining amount," said an officer. According to the police, Rudagi called Ramesh on March 17, insisting on the outstanding amount and allegedly told him that Rs 5 lakh would be given to the former ACP, while Sagar and Kale would each receive Rs 1 lakh. The remaining Rs 8 lakh, she claimed, would be hers in exchange for deleting the private material. As the threats escalated, Ramesh approached the police. The police have registered a case under sections 140 (2) (kidnapping), 308 (2) (extortion), 308 (4) (committing of extortion, puts or attempts to put any person in fear of death) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
