A 31-year-old man from West Bengal was arrested by LT Marg police in Mumbai for allegedly morphing a picture of a woman from south Mumbai and extorting money from her husband. The accused has been identified as Abdul Rahman Hasanur Mandal, who resides in the West Bengal area of North 24 Parganas.
The police said that the person who was detained was involved in an international extortion ring since his task was to collect the money in his bank account and then transfer it in cash to his Bangladeshi accomplice. He runs a money transfer business in the village, which is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.
In May this year, a Kalbadevi-based couple approached the police, stating that the husband received a photograph on WhatsApp with his wife’s face attached to a naked body. Following this, the complainant received a WhatsApp call in which a man threatened that he will send the morphed photo to everyone on his contact list, including their daughter’s friends unless he paid him Rs 14,000. According to the police, the number from which they received the text and call began with +88 which is Bangladesh’s country code and was a 13-digit mobile number.
Accused Abdul Rahman sent a UPI id to the complainant over WhatsApp and asked him to send the money immediately. The police said that the complainant had downloaded a Chinese application this year following which the data on his phone was compromised.
Since the man was concerned that the accused would continue to demand money if they fulfilled their demand once, they approached the police and filed a complaint, a police officer said. On the basis of the complainant lodged by the couple, the LT Marg police registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty), 354 (A) (sexual harassment), 385 (extortion), and 506 (criminal intimidation), as well as sections 66 (C), 66 (D), and 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act.
The police analysed the call data records of the phone number and the bank transaction records of the UPI ID sent to the man. Based on the information thus obtained, the police were able to trace the suspect at Bangaon in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, an area near the Bangladesh border. Police laid a trap and managed to arrest Abdul Rahman Hasanur Mandal. He was then brought to Mumbai on a transit remand.
During the probe, Abdul Rahman Hasanur Mandal said that he is involved in the crime for the last six months. He works on the basis of instructions received from handlers in Bangladesh and uses his bank account and UPI ID to route the money earned through extortion. He used to collect the money through UPI, then withdraw the cash and hand it over to Bangladeshi handlers on the border, keeping his commission.
According to the authorities, they are currently investigating his five bank accounts and nine UPI IDs that he made for extortion purposes. The police seized a SIM card and a mobile phone from Abdul Rahman’s possession. The police suspect that this nexus may have used similar methods to dupe several other women as well.
