Karnataka: Former CM’s OSD falls prey to ‘sextortion’ racket, loses Rs 6.8 Lakh

A 58-year-old man fell victim to a sextortion racket, resulting in a loss of Rs 6.8 lakh. The man, a resident of Malleswaram had previously served as an officer on special duty (OSD) for a former Karnataka chief minister. According to a report from Times of India, the victim, a resident of Malleswaram, shared a harrowing experience where he found himself ensnared. The victim said he was coming out of the bathroom after having a shower in a guest house in Nashik, Maharashtra when he attended a video call. The same was allegedly used to extort Rs 6.8 lakh from him, according to TOI report. The man visited the Bengaluru city police commissioner and got a complaint registered with the cybercrime police after the fraudsters demanded more money. The complainant said that he had travelled to Nashik for some work on June 12 and lodged at a guest house. During his stay, he received an unexpected video call from an unknown number. Upon answering the call, he encountered a man and a woman, both unknown to him. The caller promptly ended the call before he could disconnect it. The victim informed police that he initially disregarded the call, assuming it was made by mistake. Nevertheless, approximately at 1 pm the following day, he received another call from an unknown number. The caller identified themselves as Mahendra Singh and claimed to be a journalist from a Hindi news channel. As reported by TOI, the caller said that he had received a complaint from a woman about the victim making a video call to her and stripping himself. The caller went on to request a monetary payment, threatening to disseminate a video clipping of the incident on various online platforms, including YouTube and Facebook, if his demand was not met. The victim realised that the couple responsible for the video call he received, had recorded him. The accused offered the victim that he would delete the video once the payment was received. Following this assurance, the victim transferred Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 50,000 to the provided bank accounts specified by the caller. On July 14, according to TOI, the victim who was still in Nashik, received calls from four unknown numbers. The same individual introduced himself as Dinesh Kumar, claiming to hold the position of a Special Officer within the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He too claimed that a woman had complained to him about the victim talking to her nude on video call and asked him to send money to two bank accounts in the name of Ratnesh Kumar. Responding to this demand, Sanjay paid Rs 2 lakh to one account and Rs 2.8 lakh to the other account. The accused again called him and demanded an additional Rs 7.2 lakh. The victim, then returned to Bengaluru on July 15 and sought the assistance of Commissioner of Police B Dayananda and formally lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police on July 18.