In Gujarat, Six people were arrested from Surat, including four women, for their alleged involvement in a honey trap case in which they extorted Rs 16.5 lakh from a businessman by threatening to frame him in a rape case. In addition, police recovered Rs 5.73 lakh from them.
Utpal Ramesh Patel (25), of Amroli, Arvind Munjpara (33) and his wife Sangitaben (31) of Kapodara, Bhavna Rathod (39) of Katargam, Rekha Rathod (37) of Varachha, and Alka Gondaliya (22) of Katargam were among those arrested.
Inspector AN Gabani of Varachha police station said, “Their modus operandi was to befriend people through social media, take photographs with them and use them to blackmail them. We have recovered Rs 5.73 lakh from them. We are extracting data from their mobile phones for more clues.”
They were charged under IPC sections 323 (punishment for causing hurt voluntarily), 384 (extortion), 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation), and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy).
According to police, between December 7 and 19, the accused befriended a businessman from the Varachha area on social media and invited him to a flat in Katargam, where one of the accused women lured him into a physical relationship. Later, threatening to frame him in a rape case, the accused took Rs 7.5 lakh from the businessman, followed by an additional Rs 9 lakh.
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