Surat: A 23-year-old textile trader from Surat was allegedly extorted of Rs 5 lakh after being threatened that private photos and videos of his finacee would be made viral. The accused allegedly demanded Rs 20 lakh and told the trader to call off the engagement. Even after receiving the first instalment of Rs 5 lakh, one of the six accused allegedly sent photographs of the victim’s fiancee to his uncle. As the harassment and threats continued, the trader lodged an extortion complaint at Althan police station.The complainant, originally from Barmer in Rajasthan, lives in a posh society in Althan and runs a textile business in Surat. He got engaged to a woman from Rajasthan, on March 4 this year. On the same day, one as Darshan Porwal contacted him on Instagram, claiming he wanted to discuss the victim’s fiancee. Porwal allegedly threatened the complainant, saying he should break off the engagement if he wanted himself and his family to remain safe.Later that night, the victim received another threatening call from an accused identified as Naman Lukar. Lukar claimed to possess personal photographs of the victim’s fiancee and threatened to circulate them.On March 5, Lukar allegedly demanded Rs 20 lakh to not post the photos online. He allegedly told the victim to hand over the money to Porwal, a resident of Surat. The complainant allegedly paid Rs 5 lakh to Porwal near his residence. Porwal allegedly abused and threatened the victim, demanding the rest if he wanted his family to remain unharmed.On March 6, an unidentified person allegedly sent photographs of Lukar with the victim’s fiancee to the complainant’s uncle. Subsequently, on April 24, the accused allegedly sent another message to the victim on Instagram, warning him to cancel the engagement. The message claimed that the accused had over 2,000 photos and videos of Lukar and the victim’s fiancee.Althan police have arrested one accused in the case and have sent teams to Rajasthan to apprehend the remaining accused. Althan police inspector J H Jambhre declined to comment on the complaint.
