Rajasthan Man, 19, Arrested For Sextortion: Navi Mumbai Police

Navi Mumbai police in Maharashtra has arrested a 19-year-old man from Rajasthan for allegedly extorting more than Rs 43 lakh from a local resident after recording his videos during WhatsApp calls.

The accused, who hails from Dig in Rajasthan, allegedly made WhatsApp calls to the 34-year-old Navi Mumbai resident between May and August this year during which both of them appeared in the nude, police said.

The accused later threatened to upload videos of these conversations on YouTube, and extorted a total of Rs 43,22,900 from the complainant, said senior inspector Gajanan Kadam of the cyber wing of the Navi Mumbai police.

After the complainant approached police, a case was registered under IPC sections 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and the accused was tracked down from the bank account numbers where the extorted money had been transferred.

With the help of officials of Kama police station in Dig, accused Hamil Farid Khan was arrested from Paldi, a remote village on the border of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, on December 24.

Navi Mumbai police cyber cell official Poonam Gadge said several mobile phones, SIM cards and ATM cards were seized from the accused's possession.

Police froze a total of Rs 4,12,175 which the victim had paid into the different bank accounts, she said.

The place from where Khan was arrested is a hotbed of cyber fraudsters, according to police.

Khan allegedly told police during questioning that he was involved in 13 similar crimes in Maharashtra and elsewhere.

While further probe was being conducted, Navi Mumbai police commissioner Milind Bharambe appealed to the citizens not to entertain WhatsApp calls from unknown numbers. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)