Three arrested for abetting suicide of 26-year-old: Police

Bengaluru:

Three men have been arrested for allegedly abetting a 26-year-old man to suicide by blackmailing him using intimate videos, Bengaluru Police said on Thursday.

According to police, the body of the 26-year-old MBA graduate was found hanging at his residence near KR Puram on March 23.

Police said that the man’s family could not ascertain the reason for suicide initially as they were not aware of any issues faced by him, neither did they find any note. Later, a message received by his sister from an unknown person pointed towards a possible case of extortion, police said.

Police said the accused, identified as Kadeem, Robin and Javed, all residents of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, were arrested from their native place.

Pointing that the accused were repeat offenders, investigators said Khadeem would create fake Facebook accounts in women’s name to lure men online. “He would send them a friend request and chat with them. During the chats, they would learn about the family background of their victims. Once they zeroed in on a target, they would then lure them for sex chats and video calls. They asked their victims to strip during the video calls and record them. These clips would then be used by the accused to blackmail their targets,” an investigating officer said, adding that the accused would take help of an unknown woman for video chat.

Police said the same modus operandi was used in this case as well. “A Facebook friend request was sent to the 26-year-old by a stranger from a profile named after Neha Sharma,” the officer said.

“He started chatting with the woman, who later made a video call to him. She removed her clothes and asked him to undress. What followed was recorded,” said the officer.

Later, the gang extorted around ₹45,000 in multiple transactions from the man, threatening to release the video online and tell his family members about it, police said, adding that the continued harassment pushed the 26-year-old to take the extreme step.

Meanwhile, on April 3, the deceased’s sister received a message from an unknown man on Facebook, which said that her brother had borrowed ₹21,000 from him, police said. She received another message from one Neha Sharma, asking if she was related to the victim. Finding the messages suspicious, she gave Neha Sharma her nephew’s number, claiming it to be of the victim.

During the chats, they told the nephew, who they thought was the deceased, that with a one-time settlement of ₹21,000, the case could be closed, police said.

The family then approached the police after realising that the 26-year-old was being blackmailed.

Police have booked the three for abetment to suicide and cheating under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and sections of Information Technology Act.