State govt mulls strict laws to curb sextortion: Fadnavis

While speaking during the last day of the state assembly’s winter session, Fadnavis on Friday said that many sextortion cases have occurred from outside the state, with a village in Rajasthan emerging as a hub for carrying out operations

Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadanavis said the state government is prepared to amend the existing law with additional sections to combat cyber and sextortion crimes.

Fadnavis referred to a case wherein a Pune youth, who was harassed by cyber-criminals, died by suicide. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

He referred to a case wherein a Pune youth, who was harassed by cyber-criminals, died by suicide.

While speaking during the last day of the state assembly’s winter session, Fadnavis on Friday said that many sextortion cases have occurred from outside the state, with a village in Rajasthan emerging as a hub for carrying out operations. With these cases on the rise, there is a need to strengthen the law to prevent such incidents, Fadnavis said in response to a debate on the state of law and order in Maharashtra.

“During the discussion, sextortion issues were raised. A new type of modus has recently emerged, with two Pune youths committing suicide as a result of sextortion. Following an investigation, it was discovered that all villagers in the Rajasthan state were involved in such rackets. We have apprehended the perpetrator, and our government is considering adding some strict sections to the law to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

According to Fadnavis, a police investigation in Pune revealed that most villagers in a Rajasthan village have computers and are allegedly involved in extortion by sending messages to trap youths.

“We have arrested a few people from Rajasthan, where the entire village was discovered to be running the racket,” he said.

On November 18, Pune police arrested Anwar Khan, 29, who was running a cybercrime racket in Gurugothadi village in Rajasthan in connection with the suicide death of a 19-year-old youth. During his arrest, Pune police learned that the entire village is involved in cybercrime cases pan-India. When police raided Khan’s home, he was giving a cybercrime tutoring session.

According to Pune cyber cell officials, the racket of extortion and extorting money by threatening victims has gained traction. In 2021, the cyber cell received 685 complaints, with four cases being filed. No complaints were filed in 2020 because sextortion cases were classified as cybercrime. The Pune cybercrime unit received 1,445 complaints in 2022 (until September).