The Kodagu police have arrested five persons masquerading as cyber police and extorting ₹7 lakh from a social media user.
Police said the victim, identified as Parashivamurthy, who resides in Madapatna village under the Kushalnagar town police station limits in Karnataka, had commented on a social media platform in October 2024.
However, on November 2, 2024, he received a call on his mobile phone from an unknown person claiming to be from the cyber police department of Periyapatna. The caller told Mr. Parashivamurthy that a complaint had been filed against him for harassing girls on social media.
The caller also threatened Mr. Parashivamurthy saying that he would be arrested from his house, publicly shamed in front of his neighbours, and sent to jail if he does not pay him money. Through repeated calls, the victim was coerced into paying a total of ₹7 lakh, said a press statement issued by the Kodagu district police on Wednesday.
On January 11, 2025, he lodged a complaint in this regard at the Kushalnagar town police station, after which a case under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act was filed and police began investigating the matter.
A special investigation team formed under the leadership of the Deputy Superintendent of Somwarpet sub-division P. Chandrashekar and other staff of the Kushalnagar town police station, carried out a detailed investigation and managed to arrest five persons accused in the matter.
The arrested include Ibrahim Baad Sha, 25, a resident of Boyikeri in Madikeri taluk, Raghavendra B. M., 19, a resident of Melukote in Pandavapura taluk, Sangeetha, 30, wife of Ibrahim Baad Sha, a resident of Banashankari in Bengaluru, Charan C. K., 19, a resident of Adarsha Dravida colony in Kushalnagar, and a juvenile with a criminal record.
The police carried out the arrests on Tuesday, June 24, and produced them before the court. The police has also seized a total of four mobile phones from the accused.
Superintendent of Kodagu district police K. Ramarajan, in a statement, has appreciated the efforts of the officials, who played a key role in arresting the accused in the case.