Sextortionist who blackmailed city woman held in Guj

Mumbai: The LT Marg police on Monday arrested a 33-year-old man from Gujarat, who was part of a sextortion gang that blackmailed a nail artist in South Mumbai. The gang had issued a loan of Rs 10,000 to the nail artist and seven days later started threatening her by sending her morphed objectionable photos to her few friends. demanding extortion. The money trail led police to the accused in whose account they found transactions adding up to Rs 3 crore, indicating that he and his cronies have targeted many other people who took similar loans.After the arrest of the accused, Vishnubhai Waghela, a resident of Palanpur in Gujarat, police are looking for his accomplices.
The victim had recently applied for a personal loan of Rs 10,000 online and received a link asking her to furnish all her KYC details, including a selfie photo.
After completing the formalities, she received two messages on April 1 each stating that Rs 2,360 had been deposited in her bank account. However, on the seventh day, she started receiving calls from anonymous international mobile numbers demanding repayment of the loan. An officer said, “The caller told her that she had only 30 seconds to repay the loan. The accused then sent her a link containing her morphed pictures. The caller also sent the same pictures to the victim's relatives, including her mother and uncle.”
The caller sent her a digital wallet and online payment app scanner and transferred Rs 100 to activate her account. victim. He then asked her to pay the money or he would share her objectionable photos with many of her relatives. The victim approached the police and lodged an FIR.
A team of LT Marg police led by Gyaneshwar Wagh with the help of the local police, arrested the accused from Palanpur in Gujarat.