Teen threatens to circulate Kalyan woman’s image on social media, gets arrested

Local Press Co 5-point Snippet

1. A newly married woman from Kalyan was traumatised after she received a WhatsApp message with her image from an unknown number in a bid to extort money from her.

2. Last week, the miscreant threatened to post her image on social network with a tagline ‘Sex for sale’ if she failed to transfer money through the Airtel money app. After informing her husband, the couple filed a complaint with Thane police’s anti-extortion cell.

3. During the initial probe, cops tried to track the number, but were unable to do so since the number was always switched off. Later, when the accused sent her a message demanding money, cops asked her to deposit a small amount to pacify him. In the meanwhile, they were able to trace the cell phone to an engineering college hostel in Solapur.

4. When the cops approached the student in whose name the number was registered, he denied having any information regarding the extortion attempt. But, he informed officials that he had lent his card to the sweeper’s son in the past. When they tracked him down and examined his phone, they were able to link him to the crime.

5. During interrogation, the 17-year-old confessed his crime and revealed that he would borrow other’s phone, activate WhatsApp on his phone using their sim card and then return it back to the owner. He also admitted to having blackmailed several men by threatening to circulate their images labeling them as ‘impotent’ on social media.

With inputs from Times of India