Officials said on Saturday that a man allegedly attempted to extort money from a 19-year-old woman with whom he had a past relationship by threatening to post her private images on social media.
During questioning, the accused admitted to the police that he had recently joined a gym and needed money to buy supplements and imported protein powder.
According to the Delhi Police, two people were detained for trying to extract money from the woman and her father.
The woman and one of the accused, who is also a teenager, had dated before, but their relationship ended, according to the police. They said he set up an anonymous social media account to intimidate her.
“A complaint was received in the cyber police station through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal from a 19-year-old woman. She told the police that she had been receiving threatening messages on her social media accounts from an anonymous person,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said.
“She told the police that the accused was threatening to circulate her private pictures if she did not pay up,” Mr Meena said.
The police said that after the accused told her father, he too received threats.
After complaint was received, and an investigation was started after filing a formal complaint.
“Our investigation found that the location from where the fake ID was created was Ashok Vihar. Later our team arrested one Govind (22) on December 6,” the DCP said. Govind named the other accused – Ansh Sharma – who was also arrested the same day, he said.
According to the police, Ansh Sharma admitted during questioning that he had known the complainant since she was in Class 6 thanks to mutual friends.
The police claimed that in 2020, the two connected with one another on social media, developed an online romantic relationship, and shared their Instagram passwords. But the police said they broke up shortly after.
After that, the accused allegedly went onto her social media accounts and, while scrolling through her messages, discovered some private images in a chat.
“He downloaded those photos and sent them to Govind. Ansh Sharma then created an anonymous account on social media and started blackmailing the woman. Mobile phones of both the accused have been recovered and seized,” the DCP said.
“Sharma told police that he had recently joined the gym. He needed money to purchase imported protein powder and other supplements for bodybuilding,” DCP Meena further said.
Also Read: More cash seized at Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu’s premises, IT raid continues
