A 36-year-old Ambala Cantt resident alleged that he fell prey to an extortion scam after a woman approached him for lift while he was returning home from Chandigarh last month.
Complainant Ramakant Upadhyay said that he, along with his friends Gurpreet Singh and Abhay Singh, were travelling in his car on August 3 when a woman allegedly flagged down their vehicle near Sector 26 around 2 am. Citing an emergency, she allegedly persuaded them to drop her in Zirakpur.
The complainant said that when they reached Kartik Hotel on the Chandigarh-Ambala road, the woman allegedly asked Upadhyay to stop. Before the three friends could make sense of what was going on, the woman allegedly got out, photographed the trio and threatened to file a police complaint against him, the FIR stated.
She then allegedly snatched Upadhyay’s iPhone 15 and demanded ₹5,000. When he followed her into the hotel lobby to retrieve his phone, she allegedly created a commotion, prompting two hotel employees to intervene and support her.
Once outside the hotel, the woman allegedly increased her demand to ₹50,000 while threatening Upadhyay with legal action. He alleged that he was subsequently forced to disclose the passcodes for his phone and PhonePe application.
{{/usCountry}}Once outside the hotel, the woman allegedly increased her demand to ₹50,000 while threatening Upadhyay with legal action. He alleged that he was subsequently forced to disclose the passcodes for his phone and PhonePe application.
{{/usCountry}}Using the access, she allegedly transferred ₹57,000 from his State Bank of India account through three transactions of ₹43,000, ₹5,000 and ₹9,000.
Soon after, a white Maruti WagonR arrived at the spot. The woman allegedly got into the vehicle with Upadhyay’s phone and fled.
Upadhyay did not immediately approach the police, saying the woman continued to threaten and blackmail him after the incident. According to his complaint, she made repeated WhatsApp voice calls to him, his relatives and acquaintances, abused them and threatened to implicate him in false police cases. He later learnt that she is a resident of Kharar, and approached the police with call and other records seeking action.
A case under Sections 304(2) (snatching) and 308(2) (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered.