25-year-old IAS aspirant blackmailed by online friend dies by suicide

Bengaluru: A 25-year-old man aspiring for civil services died by suicide allegedly due to blackmailing by an extortion racket wherein a woman lured him to strip himself online and took videos, police have said.

Initially, a case of unnatural death was registered after the suicide on March 23, the police said.

Later, a case of extortion and abetment of suicide against the unknown suspects was registered after it turned out that the victim was blackmailed, they said.

The man had lost over Rs 30,000 to the extortionist gang, a police officer told PTI requesting anonymity.

According to him, the woman sent a friendship request in the social media to the man and since then they became intimate friends though they had not seen each other physically.

Later, they exchanged their WhatsApp number too and used to have video chat, the official said.

During the chat, the woman lured him to strip himself and recorded it.

Once the video was in their hands, the gang threatened to share the video in the social media.

The victim’s sister grew suspicious due to repeated calls and messages from unknown people who threatened to upload the video if the money was not paid to them, the police official said.

She later approached police on April 3, who took up a case of abetment of suicide and extortion against a gang of over six people.