According to an official, the Goa cybercrime police arrested a man from Bengaluru on charges of cyberbullying a woman and extortion after he posted a fake job advertisement online.
Following a complaint from the Goa-based woman, the cybercrime team arrested the accused, Mohan Raj V (29), on Saturday after setting a trap, according to a police spokesperson.
In her complaint, the victim claimed that the accused posted a fake job advertisement for a position at a foreign bank and contacted her via a chatting app.
“The accused lured her into attending an online interview via video call, during which some individuals, posing as representatives of the company, coerced her to undress, recorded the video, and took screenshots,” said the spokesperson.
Blackmailing
The accused then blackmailed the woman, demanding sexual favors in exchange for deleting the compromising material. The woman claimed that the accused had been harassing her for the past two months and demanded that she meet him in Bengaluru, threatening to make her videos and photos public if she refused.
A team led by Superintendent of Police Rahul Gupta traveled to Bengaluru with the victim and laid a trap.
“After extensive efforts and a long chase, the accused was apprehended when he arrived to meet the victim,” said a spokesperson.
Admitted to Crimes
According to police, the accused admitted to his crimes.
“The victim’s chats and videos on the accused’s phone were recovered. “The phone will be sent for a cyber forensic examination,” he said.
The investigation revealed that the accused created fake accounts using VPN phone numbers and posted fraudulent job offers aimed at female victims.
“They (the arrested person and others) approached women at random, enticed them to participate in online interviews with promises of large pay packages, and then recorded their objectionable images and videos.” “These recordings were then used to blackmail the victims for sexual gratification,” he claimed.
Following the woman’s complaint, the police opened an investigation on April 30 against unidentified individuals.
According to the police, the accused was arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code sections 354 A (sexual harassment), 384 (extortion), and provisions of the Information Technology Act.
