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Delhi police arrests man for blackmailing, extorting money from DU student via dating app
The accused, 23-year-old Tushar Bisht, a Delhi resident, presented himself on an online dating platform as a US-based freelance model visiting India for work.
The Delhi police has arrested a man from the Shakarpur area of East Delhi on charges of blackmailing and extorting money from a second-year Delhi University student, news agency ANI reported on Saturday, citing police.
Police said that the Cyber West police station received a complaint from the woman on December 13. She said that in early January 2024, she met someone on an online dating platform who claimed to be a US-based freelance model visiting India for work. After connecting on other social media platforms, the man requested private photos and later used them to extort money.
Following the complaint, a case was registered at the Cyber West police station, and an investigation was launched. The accused was identified as 23-year-old Tushar Bisht, son of Ganesh Singh Bisht, a resident of Delhi.
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Here's what happened
Police, as quoted by ANI, revealed that during the online friendship, the victim shared private photographs and videos with the accused via Snapchat and WhatsApp. Despite her repeated requests to meet in person, the accused avoided doing so, citing various excuses. Later, he sent her a private video of herself on WhatsApp and demanded money, threatening to leak or sell her explicit photos and videos online if she did not comply.
Under pressure, the victim made a small payment, explaining that she was a student with limited funds. However, the accused continued to demand more money, intensifying his threats. Distressed by the harassment, the victim eventually informed her family and filed a cybercrime complaint.
A swiftly conducted raid in the Shakarpur area of East Delhi led to Tushar Bisht's arrest.
DCP West, Vichitra Veer, said, “During the interrogation of the accused, it was revealed that he had been using a virtual international mobile number for the past two years. This number, obtained through an application, was used by the accused to register on various chatting platforms such as Bumble, Snapchat, and others.”
He added, “On chatting applications, he projected himself as a US-based freelancer model who is visiting Delhi for work and used the photo of a Brazilian model as his profile picture. He had also posted his pictures and stories on his fake IDs to make them look authentic. He used to connect/send friend requests to girls in the age group of 18 to 30 years on Bumble (a dating application). If the girl accepted his request, he used to befriend them.”
After gaining their trust, the accused requested explicit photos and videos from his victims. Many complied, and he recorded and saved the content using screen recording. Initially engaging in this behaviour for amusement, he later began extorting money from the victims by threatening to upload or sell the explicit material online.
During interrogation, Bisht admitted to communicating with hundreds of women and storing their private photos and videos on his phone. He confessed to blackmailing several victims and extorting money from them.
Further investigation revealed that Bisht comes from a middle-class family, with his father working as a private driver, his mother as a homemaker, and his sister employed in Gurugram. Despite having completed a BBA and working as a technical recruiter for a private company in Noida for the past three years, he got involved in these illegal activities out of greed and a desire to interact romantically with young women.
(With ANI inputs)
