In Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh, police have arrested four individuals for allegedly blackmailing a 70-year-old man and extorting £33,000, highlighting the growing threat of cybercrime against vulnerable individuals.
Four persons, including two women, were arrested on Sunday for allegedly blackmailing a 70-year-old man and extorting nearly Rs 33 lakh from him in Madhya Pradesh's Shajapur district, police said.
The accused persons, identified as Parvati Bairagi, Rajendra Bairagi, Sharad Bairagi and Sanjana Bairagi, had allegedly recorded a private clip of the senior citizen during a WhatsApp video call and used it to blackmail him, an official said.
The four also allegedly threatened to implicate the complainant in a false rape case and kill him, Kotwali police station in-charge Santosh Waghela told PTI.
The man told the police that the accused initially took Rs 5,000 and later started demanding lakhs of rupees. Frightened by their threats, he paid the accused in cash, an official said.
The complainant alleged that the accused extorted around Rs 33 lakh from him between 2023 and 2026. He added that they were pressuring him to pay Rs 20 lakh more by April 12.
Waghela said police arrested all four accused following a complaint from the elderly man. They are currently being questioned and will be produced in court afterwards, he added.