In Vishakapatnam, a horrific case of extortion has come to light where five men, posing as members of an online club for gay men, allegedly extorted Rs 2 lakh from a gay man.
According to a report by The Hindu, the five men were arrested on the charges of blackmailing and extorting money from an employee of an MNC on Sunday.
The accused are Aditya (20), a diploma holder in electrical engineering, Ameeruddin Khan (26), a car driver, Penta Arun Kumar (25), a milk vendor, Ravi Raj Ungrala (19), a student, and Dantha Jitesh (21). All are residents of Marripalem and Kancharapalem areas.
The accused allegedly extorted Rs 2 lakh from the complainant after taking nude pictures and videos of him while he was with another man.
The report states that the complainant, who is a gay man, was looking for a male partner in the city and met 20-year-old Aditya through a Facebook page called Male only Vizag Boys.
He then invited Aditya to his room at the MVP Colony for a party, and Aditya promised to bring a partner, who would be interested in the complainant.
Aditya later introduced a person to the complainant and allegedly clicked photographs of both of them in a compromising position.
“Later, he asked two of his friends to come to the room and pose themselves as police officers and another to act as a media person. All the five blackmailed the complainant and demanded Rs 2 lakh in two instalments,” Joint Commissioner of Police, D Nagendra Kumar, was quoted as saying by the Hindu.
When they tried to extort more money, the complainant approached the police who then arrested the five men, a report by the Deccan Chronicle states.
The complainant, who was hesitant to approach the police first, did so later as the harassment was unbearable. The incident occurred on July 12, the Indian Express states.
It was revealed during the interrogation that the accused had committed similar crimes in the past.
The accused have been booked under IPC sections 419, 506, 384 and 34 and also section 66 of the IT Act.