Pune sextortion & suicide case: ‘Mastermind’ arrested from Rajasthan village

On September 28, a teenage boy died by jumping off the 10th floor of an apartment building in Dattawadi area, where he was staying with his sister. The boy’s sister had lodged a complaint with the Dattawadi police station.

An investigation revealed that the complainant had received a message “Hello” and a photograph on her Instagram account on the same day.

She found the photograph was a “screenshot” of a video of her brother in a naked situation. The person who sent her the photograph deleted it soon after she saw it.

Meanwhile, the complainant also got a call from a girl, who was her brother’s friend. She informed the complainant that her brother was disturbed because someone was blackmailing him online.

During the investigation, police found that some “Preeti” had contacted the deceased on his Instagram account. During an online conversation, this person took his videos and photographs in objectionable conditions. The person then demanded money from him by threatening to release the photographs on social media.

The deceased sent Rs 4,500 in three instalments to the blackmailer on September 28. But the threats continued, and the blackmailer also circulated his photographs on social media. Following this, the boy died by suicide.

Police booked the accused under Sections 306 and 384 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. Police contacted Instagram and the online payment application used in the crime for leads about the accused. Using technical investigation, police confirmed the involvement of Anwar Khan, who is based in Gothri Guru village in the case.

A police team went to the village and arrested Khan, but his family members and other villagers pelted stones at the team to help him escape. However, the team led by sub-inspector Akshay Saravde captured Khan again after chasing him for over 2 km.

Several sextortion cases across the country have been linked to the Gothri Guru village. Khan is a “mastermind”, and he operated his “system” from the village, said police. Pune police found many youths in the village trained in “online sextortion” crimes, a press release said.

“After seeking transit remand from a local court, the accused was brought to Pune. He was produced before a court on Monday, which remanded him to police custody for five days for further investigation,” senior inspector Abhay Mahajan of the Dattawadi police station said.