Two separate cases involving extortion through sexual baiting have surfaced in Bengaluru. In the first incident, four individuals allegedly ran an extortion racket in the city and were arrested by the Puttenahalli police. Meanwhile, the second incident pertains to the extortion of nearly Rs 82 lakh from a senior citizen, in which the Jayanagar police arrested three people.
In the Puttenahalli case, three of the four accused were taken into custody on August 1. They have been identified as Sharanappa Baligar (48), Abdul Khader (46), and Yasin Shariff (36). Baligar hails from Uttara Kannada, Khader from Kushalnagar in Kodagu district, and Shariff is a resident of Bengaluru. Baligar, who holds an MBA, allegedly posed as a woman to lure men through conversations. Neha Meher, who was also allegedly associated with the group, was arrested in Mumbai on August 15.
The group reportedly rented a house in Vinayak Nagar for their operation. Neha would sexually bait men aged between 25 to 30 to the location using the Telegram app, and covertly record their interactions using a concealed camera. After some time, Sharanappa, Abdul, and Yasin would enter the room on the pretext of catching them. The trio would then blackmail the victims using the recorded footage to extort money.
One victim who refused to meet the demands of the gang filed a complaint with the police. Subsequent investigations revealed that the accused had employed the same method to extort lakhs of rupees from 12 other men.
In the second case, three individuals — Annamma (40), Sneha (25), and Lokesh (32) – were arrested for their alleged involvement in extorting Rs 82 lakh from a 60-year-old man. While Annamma hailed from Madikeri, Sneha and Lokesh were from Bengaluru.
Annamma was introduced to the senior citizen through his friend. She then sought financial aid from him citing her son's cancer treatment. Initially, the man paid Rs 5,000 but over time, Annamma allegedly coerced the man into having intimate meetings with her at a hotel near Electronic City and secretly recorded them. Sneha was introduced later as Annamma's friend and she used the recordings to coerce the man into paying more money.
When he started resisting, Sneha escalated the situation by threatening to send the videos to his contacts. Scared, the man gave in and transferred his provident fund of Rs 82 lakh to the duo. However, a few days later, the women insisted on an additional Rs 42 lakh. Overwhelmed by the relentless harassment, the man ultimately sought help from the police.
The women have been charged with extortion, criminal intimidation, and intent to incite a breach of peace. Lokesh, who lived with the accused women, was also arrested for his participation in the planning of the extortion.