After ‘sextortion’ calls demanding Rs 51 lakh, man commits suicide; probe on

As stated in the FIR, the victim hanged himself at his residence on May 15. The police found two suicide notes, one kept on a table and another in the cupboard of his house.

In the suicide note, the victim mentioned that his “Facebook account was hacked two days back”. He also mentioned some mobile phone numbers from which he got the “blackmailing calls”.

He stated in the suicide note that blackmailers had morphed his WhatsApp profile picture into obscene images and were constantly calling him from different mobile phone numbers for money.

The blackmailers initially demanded Rs 2,000, then Rs 10,000 and later they asked the victim to give Rs 51 lakh or else they would defame him by circulating his obscene images on social media, the FIR stated.

Following threats, the victim transferred Rs 12,000 to a cyber criminal, which went into the bank account of one ‘Suraj Kumar’ at a co-operative bank in Ahmednagar, the FIR said.

Senior police inspector Vijay Dhamal said, “We have launched a probe into this case. The deceased’s mobile phone has been sent for forensic analysis to retrieve data required for investigation of the offence. We are also probing into the bank account in which the victim’s money was transferred. The victim worked at a private company in the city.”

The victim’s funeral was conducted at his native place in Ahmednagar on May 16. Initially, as per the legal procedure, the police had lodged an accidental death (AD) case and initiated a probe to confirm the cause behind the death.

Based on the probe, police have booked ‘Suraj Kumar’ and other unidentified cyber criminals under sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 385 (extortion), 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

Meanwhile, in his suicide notes, the victim left an emotional message for his son, wishing to become a police officer, to surely fulfil the wish. He also said “sorry” to his wife and that he was sure she would raise their son properly.

Previous ‘sextortion’ suicide cases in Pune

A 22-year-old student committed suicide at his house in Tanaji Nagar in Dhankawadi on September 30, 2022 due to ‘sextortion’ and blackmailing by an online fraudster who threatened to upload his nude video on social media platforms. An FIR was lodged at Sahkarnagar police station on October 9, 2022. Police arrested a youngster from Rajasthan during the probe. Police said the accused, pretending to be a woman, took nude video of the deceased while chatting on WhatsApp and then demanded money from him by threatening to upload it on various social media platforms. Victim got scared and transferred Rs 4,500 to the accused through PhonePe in different online transactions. But the accused demanded more money from him, due to which the victim hanged himself.

A 19-year-old boy committed suicide on September 28, 2022, by jumping down from an apartment on the tenth floor of a building in Dattawadi area of Pune. His sister had lodged an FIR at Dattawadi police station. The victim in this case too came in contact with a woman identifying herself as ‘Preeti’ on Instagram. During the online conversation, the accused, chatting in the guise of a woman, took nude videos and photographs of the victim and demanded money from him by threatening to make viral these photographs on social media. The victim paid Rs 4,500 to the accused over the ‘PhonePe’ application. But the threats continued and the blackmailer also circulated his photographs on social media. Due to it, the victim got frustrated and ended his life. In this case too police had arrested a man from Rajasthan.