New Delhi: At least 100 men were trapped by an extortion racket operating under the garb of an escort service, which has been busted by the Delhi Police.
The racket came into limelight after a pilot reportedly paid the extortionists close to Rs. 10 lakh, but was continued to harassed for more and reported the matter.
According to a news report, Vijay Singh, DCP (North-West), said that the gang used the website www.adultfriendfinder.com to lure victims. The masterminds of this plan are three former Home Guards Jagtinder Singh, Sunder Lal and Jitender. The women who were used as honey traps are still on the run.
Pilot trapped by extortionists
The pilot had befriended a girl on an internet dating site in October last year. They soon met up outside a cinema hall in Rohini before heading to a house in Vijay Vihar area.
Within minutes, three men posing as crime branch officers barged in and threatened to implicate the pilot in a fake rape case.
To come across as genuine policemen, they even took the woman to a government hospital on the pretext of getting a medical examination conducted.
In a bid to escape from being framed in a rape case, the pilot went on to pay up Rs 9.7 lakh over the next few weeks.
But trouble was not over as, just as he believed that he was out of trouble, the men tried to extort more money from him claiming that the woman had changed her statement before the court and that more money would be required to manage the case.
Real Police comes in the picture
After the pilot realised that the extortionists were not real policemen, the pilot decided to approach the Maurya Enclave police station in March.
A case was then registered and the investigation was handed over to the special staff of the district.
The police studied the details of the woman and the extortionists provided by the pilot. A visit to the Vijay Vihar house revealed that the couple who had rented the flat out had vacated it within two days of the incident.
Persistence and a detailed analysis of the modus operandi paid off after the investigators arrested Jagtinder on Monday. He reportedly served as a Civil Defence volunteer until 2015.
The other two, who were nabbed soon after, said that experience with the police during their service as Home Guards helped them impersonate police officers. “They have extorted money from at least 100 men since the gang began operating in 2014,” said the Police official.