Man poses as Spanish actor to dupe women, held

The accused used to blackmail the victims by threatening to make their private pictures viral, police officers said.

The Delhi Police on Monday apprehended a 22-year-old man from Ghaziabad for allegedly posing as a Spanish actor to trap young women on Instagram and obtain their private pictures. The accused used to blackmail the victims by threatening to make their private pictures viral, police officers said.

The DCP further said that on the basis of her complaint, a dedicated team of district cyber cell officials was constituted and details of the alleged Instagram profile were obtained. (HT Archives)

Sagar Singh Kalsi, deputy commissioner of police (North), identified the arrested accused as Abbuzar Rehman.

“In a complaint received at Cyber police station through MHA Cyber Crime reporting portal, a complaint alleged that an unknown person became her friend on Instagram. He introduced himself as a small-time Spanish actor. After some time, she became his friend and shared her private pictures with him. Thereafter, he started demanding money from her, threatening to make her pictures viral on social media. When the complainant did not budge to his demands, the accused made a fake ID of the complainant, using one of her private photos and shared the same with the complainant to threaten her,” Kalsi said.

The DCP further said that on the basis of her complaint, a dedicated team of district cyber cell officials was constituted and details of the alleged Instagram profile were obtained.

“Subsequently, on its basis, IP addresses and mobile number used in the registration of the profile were also obtained. These IP addresses were further sent to concerned mobile operators, from where the mobile number and IMEI number used in the offence were found and the identity of the alleged person was ascertained. He has been served with notice under section 41-A of the Criminal Procedure Code. We have also recovered three SIM cards, one memory card and two mobile phones used in the offence from his possession,” Kalsi said.