NCP MLA gets ‘sextortion calls’, Pune cops arrest youth from Rajasthan
Police have identified the accused as Rizwan Aslam Khan (24), a resident of Sihawali village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. Mane, who lives in Pune, represents Mohol constituency in Solapur district of Maharashtra.
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MLA Yashwant Mane along with Pune city police officers during a press conference on Friday. (Express Photo) The Pune city police arrested a youth for allegedly trying to extort money from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Yashwant Mane by making obscene video calls to him on WhatsApp and threatening to circulate them on social media.
Police have identified the accused as Rizwan Aslam Khan (24), a resident of Sihawali village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. Mane, who lives in Pune, represents Mohol constituency in Solapur district of Maharashtra.
During a press conference held by the cyber police station of the Pune city police, Mane said he had been receiving several sleazy messages from a number used by the accused since January 23, 2023.
“I ignored these messages for a few days. Then around 9.15 pm on January 31, I started getting video calls. I did respond to it initially. But the video calls continued. When I received a call, I saw an obscene video of a woman. I cut the call within seconds. But the accused did screen-recording of this short call and threatened to circulate it to my contacts if I did not give an extortion of Rs 1 lakh,” said Mane.
“I asked the caller whether he knew me and how he got my number. Accused said he got my number from social media and kept on demanding money from me saying ….. Aap bade ijjatdar ho, paise se jada apko ijjat pyari hai…I felt this was possibly a major racket,” he said.
Mane then contacted additional commissioner of police (crime) Ramnath Pokle of the Pune city police about the sextortion call. A first information report (FIR) in this case was lodged at the Cyber police station unders section 384, 500 of the Indian Penal Code on February 2.
Technical analysis of the mobile phone number used by the accused revealed that he was based in Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
After a rigorous search operation for about a week, the police arrested Rizwan Khan from Sihawali village with the help of Rajasthan police on Thursday. Police found that several persons from the village were allegedly involved in similar online crimes. Police seized four cell phones, four sim cards from the accused, Khan. Police suspect he spoke to the MLA pretending to be a woman.
“We found 90 obscene videos in his cell phone. A court in Pune has remanded him to police custody for five days. We suspect that he got MLA’s mobile phone number randomly. Further investigation is on to know whether he was involved in more cases of sextortion. Attempts are on to find out his accomplices involved in the crime,” said Pokle.
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