Four individuals have been arrested in Nashik for allegedly blackmailing a senior citizen after stealing his tablet and threatening to leak private data online, highlighting the growing threat of cybercrime.
Four persons have been arrested in Maharashtra's Nashik for allegedly stealing a tablet from a senior citizen and attempting to extort ₹12 lakh by threatening to leak his private photographs and videos on social media, police said on Friday.
According to the police, the accused gained access to private data after stealing the gadget from the victim's office in Satpur a few days ago and allegedly used objectionable videos and photos found on the device to blackmail the complainant, threatening to make the files viral unless he paid them ₹12 lakh, an official said.
He said that the complainant approached the Satpur police and informed them about his plight, stating that he had already paid the accused ₹10,000 some days ago and was to hand over ₹50,000 on Thursday evening.
The city police formed two teams and apprehended the suspects from the Adgaon Shivar area on the Mumbai-Agra National Highway, the official said.
The accused, Akash Pundlik Bakre, Prakash Ramdas Panpatil, Suraj Sunil Gawai and Shreepat Bhimrao Shinde, have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further probe is underway to find out if they have been involved in similar offences earlier.