Pune, Two men have been arrested from Bihar for allegedly blackmailing a 22-year-old employee of a reputed IT company in Pune through fake social media accounts and extorting ₹ 1.77 lakh from him, leading to his suicide, police said on Thursday.
He alleged that a person identifying himself as Ajaykumar Bhatia had threatened to implicate his son in a false drug trafficking case. The person repeatedly called Saxena, demanded money and subjected him to mental harassment, his father alleged. Saxena’s father, Kumargaurav, lodged a complaint with the police on October 14. During the probe, police arrested Akashkumar Sanjay Singh and Rajkumar Sampurna Anand Singh in Patna on October 21 for their alleged role in the crime. Seven mobile phones, a laptop and a tablet, collectively valued at ₹ 2.22 lakh, were seized from them, said officials. The two were produced before a Pune court, which remanded them in police custody until October 30. The police traced the financial transactions and managed to freeze ₹ 1,14,498 of the extorted amount, said officials.
Victim Shikhar Kumargaurav Saxena stayed in a paying guest accommodation in Kharadi. On October 1, he jumped to his death from the 27th floor of the Riverdale Suite Society building in the area.
The investigation showed that he was forced to transfer a total of ₹ 1.77 lakh to five different bank accounts, police said. The accused allegedly used the recording to blackmail Saxena and threatened to implicate him in a false drug case. Police are searching for Aniket Gupta from Ludhiana in Punjab and Krish Kumar from Arunachal Pradesh, who allegedly received the extorted money, along with other suspects in the case. Senior inspector Sanjay Chavan of Kharadi police station is conducting further investigation.
