Delhi: LSE graduate among 3 held for cyber extortion racket run from Thailand

Police said the businessman, whose identity has been withheld, approached Desh Bandhu Gupta (DBG) Road police station after receiving a threat call from a Thailand-based number

Delhi Police arrested three men, including a London School of Economics (LSE) graduate, for allegedly running an international cyber extortion racket from Thailand to clear mounting debts. The accused—Sumit (42), Prince (35), and Nitish (31)—posed as a notorious gangster and threatened a Delhi-based businessman over WhatsApp, demanding cryptocurrency payments, police said.

The trio were arrested soon after they returned to India. Police recovered two mobile phones—one used to generate the crypto QR code and another for WhatsApp calls. (Representational image)

Police said the businessman, whose identity has been withheld, approached Desh Bandhu Gupta (DBG) Road police station after receiving a threat call from a Thailand-based number. The caller, impersonating a dreaded gangster, demanded money through a crypto QR code and warned of dire consequences—including harm to his children—if he refused.

A case under Section 308(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered, following which a joint team from DBG Road Police Station and the Cyber Police Station (Central District) launched an investigation. Using advanced cyber tools and in coordination with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), investigators traced the call and QR code to Thailand. The accused had purchased an international SIM card there to evade detection.

“The suspects thought operating from abroad would shield them, but our cyber team tracked their digital trail,” said deputy commissioner of police (Central) Nidhin Valsan.

The trio were arrested soon after they returned to India. Police recovered two mobile phones—one used to generate the crypto QR code and another for WhatsApp calls.

Investigators said Nitish, an LSE postgraduate from Moti Nagar, was the mastermind behind the crypto transactions. Sumit, a BCom graduate and jewellery trader from West Punjabi Bagh, knew the victim personally, while Prince, a Class 9 drop-out from Roshanara Road, assisted in making the threat calls.

During interrogation, the men allegedly confessed they were drowning in debt and turned to extortion as a “quick fix.” “They used a gangster’s name to scare the victim into paying,” said an officer.