Two arrested for sextortion: Gurugram police

The suspects, both brothers, also involved their 13-year-old brother in the racket to mimic a woman’s voice to trap their victims, said investigators

The Gurugram police arrested two men in Rajasthan’s Alwar district for running a sextortion racket in which they trapped hundreds of people across the country over the last two years, police officers aware of the matter said on Saturday.

The suspects were identified as Mohammad Altaf, 21, and Mohammad Junaid, 19. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The suspects, both brothers, also involved their 13-year-old brother in the racket to mimic a woman’s voice to trap their victims, said investigators. The suspects were identified as Mohammad Altaf, 21, and Mohammad Junaid, 19. The minor has not been detained because the police are still determining whether he knew that he was supporting criminal activities by making voice recordings for them, said officers.

“The two extorted big sums of money totalling crores of rupees from hundreds of people, including one from Gurugram in March last year. Once we get their bank account details and data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), it will become clear how many people were victimised and how much money was extorted,” said Priyanshu Dewan, assistant commissioner of police (cybercrime).

The police got on the suspects’ track after a man in Gurugram filed a complaint on March 29, 2023, that he had been extorted of ₹42,000 by a gang of cyber criminals. The police registered a first information report soon afterwards and began an investigation. After a year, the suspects were tracked to Thekra village in Alwar. The police conducted a raid on Thursday and arrested Altaf, while Junaid managed to flee and was arrested later on Saturday. According to investigators, the suspects were on a video call with a victim from a southern state at the time of the raid.

Explaining the suspects’ method, investigators said that the two created fake Facebook and Instagram profiles and messaged their targets. If anyone showed interest, they exchanged WhatsApp numbers for video calls. “The suspects’ minor brothers were also involved in the racket. Altaf and Junaid tutored their sibling to speak in a feminine voice which they recorded and sent to victims as a voice note to lure them to come on to video chats,” the ACP said.

When the target called, the suspects played a porn video on a second phone and held it in front of the camera of the phone on which the victim had video called. The phones were placed in front of each other in such a way that the victim was led to believe he was actually watching a woman perform a sex act instead of a porn video. The two would record the screen showing the victim on a video call and send the clip to the victim to extort money from him.

Police have seized three mobile phones from the suspects on which several porn videos and videos of their victims have been found. Police officers said that the suspects have a 15-year-old brother who they suspect was also involved in the racket, but his role is being investigated.

The suspects were sent to judicial custody on Saturday.