New Delhi: The Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell has arrested three youths from Haryana’s Faridabad for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of nearly ₹5.80 lakh through a sophisticated sextortion scam. The accused allegedly used a fake WhatsApp video call, recorded an obscene video of the victim, and later extorted money by threatening to make the footage public and implicate him in criminal cases.
Police said the arrests mark a major breakthrough in cracking a cyber fraud case registered at the Cyber Police Station in Delhi’s North-East district. Investigators have also uncovered links to an organised sextortion syndicate believed to be operating from the Mewat region of Rajasthan.
How the sextortion scam unfolded
According to police, the complainant, K.L. Tripathi, a resident of Ganga Vihar in Delhi, received a WhatsApp video call on May 6 from a woman posing as one of his social media contacts.
The caller allegedly persuaded him to remove his clothes during the video call while secretly recording the interaction. Soon after, the victim started receiving calls from different numbers, with fraudsters impersonating police officials, social media representatives and government authorities.
The callers allegedly threatened to circulate the obscene video online, implicate him in legal cases and have him arrested unless he paid money. Fearing public humiliation and legal action, the victim transferred approximately ₹5.80 lakh in multiple instalments through bank accounts, UPI IDs and QR codes.
After realising he had been cheated, the victim approached the Cyber Police Station and lodged a complaint.
Financial trail leads to three arrests
Following the complaint, a special investigation team led by Inspector Rahul Kumar, Station House Officer (Cyber), carried out an extensive financial and technical investigation.
The probe traced part of the defrauded money to bank accounts belonging to Rajesh (18) and Kunal (22), both residents of Faridabad. Rajesh was arrested on June 17, while Kunal was apprehended later after investigators followed the financial trail.
Based on Kunal’s disclosures, police arrested Imran (23), who allegedly withdrew the cheated money from ATMs. During the operation, investigators recovered a mobile phone and a SIM card allegedly used in the commission of the crime.
Police suspect larger organised cyber crime network
During interrogation, the accused reportedly revealed the involvement of a well-organised sextortion syndicate operating from the Mewat region of Rajasthan, a region that has frequently come under the scanner for cyber fraud and online extortion activities.
Police said no previous criminal record has been found against the three arrested accused so far. However, efforts are underway to identify and apprehend other members of the alleged racket.
The investigation is continuing to trace the remaining accused, recover the defrauded money and uncover the wider network behind the cyber extortion operation.