AMRAVATI/NAGPUR: The sexual abuse and blackmail of girls in Amravati would have continued unfettered, but for the tussle between the two main accused, Ayan Ahmed and Uzer Khan, that finally blew the lid off the scandal. Sources say Ahmed and Uzer had a “bet” on who would be able to win over more girls, which later developed into a voyeuristic fetish of recording the acts and uploading them online. A local politician who is an acquaintance of Ayan Ahmed said the fallout with Uzer happened over money, and the latter then posted the videos online in a fit of rage.Ayan was a former member of Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and supervised the social media handle of the party, said police.Mujeeb Rashid, councillor at Achalpur Municipal Council, told TOI that Ahmed’s videos began going viral in the last two weeks. “Ten days ago, I heard about the viral videos, though I did not view them. I accosted Ahmed, who apologised profusely, and warned him that he was spoiling his life by going behind girls at an age when he should be focusing on studies. Ahmed promised he would mend his ways and went away,” said Rashid. What the politician did not know was that this was not a video of two adult lovebirds which accidentally got leaked, but a series of 18 sex videos and 39 obscene photographs which allegedly turned into sex abuse and blackmail.“Ahmed said there was a video which was deleted and there won’t be any more trouble, I believed him,” said the councillor, Rashid. He was in for a major shock when details of the case came out. “When I started inquiring, people told me that Ahmed was roaming around on a flashy bike and splurging money. His father deals in second-hand vehicles, so while they are not poor, they are definitely not loaded with cash,” said Rashid.The scandal’s alleged mastermind, Ahmed, was studying in second year at a college in Achalpur. “Now that all this happened, I asked around how Ahmed had so much disposable cash. Some say he was involved in betting, but I could not verify it.”The girls whom Ahmed managed to trap were from different towns who most likely came to study at the college or enrolled in a coaching institute. Police are also probing if Ahmed used social media to contact these girls before taking the relationship forward.Rashid said, “We came to know that Ahmed’s intimate videos were in Uzer’s possession. Whether the two were partners in crime or Uzer managed to get the videos from Ahmed’s phone is something I am not aware of. But I have been told Uzer had some monetary demands which Ahmed was unable to fulfil. And Uzer followed through on his threat by making the videos viral.”As police now interrogate the accused, the challenge is to get testimony from the survivors, who fear social taboo. There were allegations from Hindu frontal organisations that this is a case of ‘love jihad’, but Pyare Khan, chairman of Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, denied that. “I spoke with Amravati SP Vishal Anand, who confirmed that all eight victims identified so far are Muslims.”
