The Surathkal police arrested four persons including two women for allegedly honey-trapping a man from Kasargod in Kerala and placing a demand for Rs 5 lakh.
The victim filed a complaint to the Surathkal police alleging that a gang had assaulted him and blackmailed him with a video they shot, where they made him remove his clothes. The gang threatened to upload this video on social media, City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar told the press.
The arrested are Reshma alias Neema, Iqbal Mohammed alias Iqbal, Zeenath alias Zeenath Mubin and Nasif alias Adul Khader Najeep.
Kumar said that Reshma and Zeenath had befriended the victim on Facebook two months ago. After chatting for a few days, they exchanged phone numbers and spoke to each other frequently. On January 16, Reshma had invited the victim to her house at Surathkal. When he reached the house, the other gang member followed him to the house, assaulted him and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh.
Both women had even threatened to file sexual assault cases against him if he didn't give them money. When he could not pay the amount immediately, the gang took away his car and collected Rs 30,000 as the first installment from him, said the commissioner.
Zeenath and Iqbal were husband and wife and were living in an apartment at Kana-Katla in Surathkal.
(Published 18 January 2021, 08:55 IST)
JOIN US