Muzaffarpur, Jul 19 (PTI) A hotel owner in Patna was allegedly blackmailed with AI-generated deepfake obscene videos of him and forced to pay Rs 97 lakh, following which an FIR was registered here against three people, including a woman, police said on Sunday.
The extortion money was paid in four tranches in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Patna, of which the final instalment of Rs 20 lakh was recovered following police raids, they said.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer Vinita Sinha said the FIR was registered on Saturday based on a complaint by the victim and further investigation was underway.
She said that Muzaffarpur resident Abhishek Kumar, identified as the mastermind of the extortion, had conspired with a woman and some others to create AI-generated deepfake videos of the hotelier and demanded Rs 1 crore a few months ago.
Police said the accused had threatened to make the video public and implicate him in false cases if their demand was not met. The victim paid Rs 97 lakh in four tranches in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Patna, police said.
“Acting on a plan to help police trace the suspects, the hotelier placed an electronic tracking device inside a bundle of currency notes before handing over the final instalment of Rs 20 lakh to the accused on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
Tracing the location of the device, police raided the alleged mastermind’s residence in Muzaffarpur and recovered the amount while the accused managed to flee, Sinha said.
An investigation into the case was underway, and efforts are being made to nab the accused, she added. PTI COR SUK NSD
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