AI, fake Army officer profiles and blackmail: Uttar Pradesh cops bust extortion racket linked to man's suicide

Sonbhadra: The Sonbhadra police have busted with the arrest of five people an inter-state cyber crime racket involving blackmail, extortion and impersonation of Army and police officers on social media, which allegedly drove a man to suicide, officials said on Wednesday.

They said the deceased man was allegedly subjected to sustained online harassment and threats. Five accused from Rajasthan were arrested following a multi-state investigation involving technical surveillance, bank transaction analysis and scrutiny of CCTV footage, police said.

The development comes after complainant Ankita Pathak approached Sonbhadra SP Abhishek Verma on April 29, alleging that her husband Rajendra Pathak had died by suicide on the night of April 7-8 at their newly-constructed house.

Initially, the reasons behind the suicide were unclear. However, family members later examined the deceased's mobile phone and allegedly found chats, call records and evidence showing that unknown persons had been threatening and extorting money from him repeatedly.

Additional SP (Naxal) Rishabh Runwal told PTI that bank statements and mobile conversations revealed that Rajendra Pathak had transferred money multiple times to the accused and was allegedly under severe mental distress due to cyber harassment and blackmail.

"Taking the matter seriously, police registered a case at Robertsganj police station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to abetment and extortion-linked offences, and formed a joint investigation team comprising the cyber crime police station, Special Operations Group (SOG) and surveillance cell," Runwal, who supervised the investigation, said.

Investigators carried out technical analysis of the victim's mobile phone, including chats, calls and video calls, and found that the video calls had originated from Alwar district in Rajasthan.

Police also found that the bank account into which the money was transferred belonged to Maharashtra, while the cash withdrawals were being made from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.

Based on electronic surveillance and technical evidence, a police team led by cyber police station in-charge Dhirendra Kumar Chaudhary travelled to Rajasthan. With assistance from local police, investigators analysed CCTV footage from bank ATMs and other locations to identify the accused, the officer said.

On May 10, police arrested five accused allegedly involved in different parts of the racket -- threatening victims, withdrawing money and arranging mule bank accounts and ATM cards, he said. The arrested accused were identified as Afsil Khan, Noor Mohammad alias Nanda, Rashid, Washim and Barish, all residents of different areas of Rajasthan's Alwar and Khairthal-Tijara districts, he added.

Police said the gang operated in an organised manner and used fake social media identities with photographs of Army and police officers to intimidate victims.

According to investigators, the main accused, Afsil Khan, allegedly used artificial intelligence tools to create obscene videos and then threatened people using those fabricated clips to extort money.

Police said Nanda and Rashid withdrew extorted money through ATM machines. Their identities were established through CCTV footage obtained from a Maharashtra Bank ATM in Bhiwadi.

Investigators further found that accused Washim allegedly arranged fake documents to open bank accounts and procure ATM cards, while Barish allegedly helped provide mule accounts used for routing the money.

Police said the accused used to receive nearly 20 per cent commission on transactions routed through the mule accounts.

Five mobile phones, two ATM cards linked to mule accounts, SIM cards used in the operation and Rs 6,000 cash were recovered from the accused, police said.