2 arrested for cyber extortion of sr citizens

New Delhi: The Cyber Crime Unit of Delhi Police has arrested a cyber extortionist who had been preying on victims, particularly senior citizens, by threatening to release explicit videos via social media and also impersonating a high-ranking Delhi Police officer.

The police received the information about the incident through the complaint registered on July 18 at Cyber Police Station Shahdara.

The accused was identified as Rizwan (22), son of Khurshid resident of Thoon Village, Deeg district, Rajasthan, and Barkat Khan (32) resident of Bhajedi in Alwar, Rajasthan.

According to the Police, the complainant reported that he had received an unsolicited WhatsApp video call depicting an undressed girl. The culprits responsible for the call then took a screenshot, capturing the complainant’s face during the call.

Subsequently, he received calls from two different numbers, where the callers claimed to be from Cyber Crime Delhi.

They threatened to make the screenshot public and even sent a disturbing image of a deceased girl, along with a fabricated police warrant.

Fearing legal repercussions and public humiliation, the complainant transferred approximately Rs 12,80,000 to the fraudsters.

The team of Delhi Police arrested Barkat Khan, who was found in possession of three mobile phones and SIM cards. Khan’s interrogation revealed that two to three others were involved in the extortion scheme. A subsequent operation led to the arrest of Rizwan, and the recovery of a secondary calling device.