NEW DELHI: A TV reporter was arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi police for running an extortion racket along with his gang where they used to lure innocent men and videograph them with a female accomplice in compromising positions. The gang members then posing as policemen and journalists threaten the victim that their video will be made public. Then, they extort money from the victims who never approached the police for the fear of ruining their personal life.
During interrogation, the accused Md Sameer Siddiqui disclosed that he knew that seldom does the victim of such a case come to the police. All the male members of this gang were his own trusted members. During the fake sting operation, Arif used to hold the camera and record the video. Sameer held the TV mike. Sanjay alias Sahil always used to pose as a police official and would thrash the victim. Finally, they would extort money from the victims for giving relief from criminal cases. Suraj, a member of this gang, drove the car carrying the gang members to the destination. In case, the victim was in possession of a Credit or Debit card, they withdrew money from the accounts of the victims after forcibly obtaining the PIN number of the Credit or Debit card.
The incident came to light when a complainant told the police that he received a WhatsApp message from a mobile number and the messenger informed him her name and that she was facing some problems with her computer software and on that pretext he was called at her place in Keshav Puram, Delhi.
"She guided him to a room and asked him to wait for a while and after 2-3 minutes, she came in a seducing manner and closed the door. Before he could realize anything, all of sudden four persons entered the room from the adjacent room and they attacked him, beat him up mercilessly and forcibly undressed him," said Alok Kumar, Joint CP Crime.
"They also made his video recording with that lady in a compromising position and they threatened to circulate the video on news channels. All five have been arrested," Alok Kumar said.