TIRUPATI: A five-member gang, involved in extorting money by blackmailing unsuspecting men using their semi-nude pictures, was busted by Kurnool district police wing in Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
The accused were identified as Sakunthala, Kishore, Naga Raju, Anjanamma and Giddaiah.
Kurnool superintendent of police CH Sudheer Kumar Reddy said that the gang, which included two women, used to randomly call up men by involving women.
Once they fell into the trap of the woman caller, the unsuspecting man would be called to an isolated home where the gang captured semi-nude images of the victim on camera.
The gang would then blackmail the victim, threatening him that his pictures would be released on social media and posted online if he did not pay up the ransom money.
Kurnool SP underlined that the gang extorted money in a similar fashion from two victims from Kurnool within a span of just 20 days.
In the first incident reported at the Kurnool IV town police station where a case was registered under sections, 347, 384, 506 r/w 34 of the IPC sections, the gang lured a resident of Labour Colony in Kurnool, captured his semi-nude images and extorted Rs 1.2 lakh.
And on August 9, the gang engaged a resident of Ram-Rahim locality, clicked his semi-nude images and forced him to sign promissory notes and cheques valued at Rs 8 lakh.
Following a complaint lodged by the victim, Kurnool IV town police registered a case against the gang.
Kurnool IV town police who kept a watch on the movements of the gang over the last few days arrested all the accused on Monday.
