New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI) Delhi Police has busted an organised sextortion racket, in which people allegedly posed as police officers and “YouTube representatives” and extorted Rs 14.63 lakh from a sewadar at a gurdwara by threatening him with arrest for watching an “obscene” video, officials said on Thursday.
Four people, including a key member of the racket who allegedly arranged mule bank accounts, have been arrested for the alleged cyber fraud carried out last year, they said.
The investigation has also linked 15 cyber fraud complaints from different states to suspected beneficiary bank accounts, with cumulative debit and credit transactions exceeding Rs 1 crore, indicating the possible involvement of the accounts in multiple cyberfrauds, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Niharika Bhatt said.
According to police, a Gurugram resident received an “obscene” video. Later, people allegedly posing as Gurugram Police officers and “YouTube representatives” contacted him, claiming that a criminal case had been registered against him for watching the video, Bhatt said.
The fraudsters allegedly threatened him with arrest unless he paid up to remove the video from social media platforms and get his name removed from the purported FIR.
Under pressure, he transferred money through multiple transactions from his and his nephew’s bank accounts between September 11 and 27, 2025. He was allegedly cheated of Rs 14.63 lakh, police said.
He realised he had been duped, following which a case was registered on his complaint.
Imran Khan (28) and Ankit Sain from Rajasthan, and Samad Khan (32) and Tasleem Raja (32) from Punjab have been arrested.
Three mobile phones and six SIM cards have been recovered, police said.
When the investigation began, police were led to Kaltariya village and adjoining areas in Rajasthan’s Deeg district, establishing a link to the Mewat region, they said.
The financial trail revealed that the money had been routed through multiple suspected mule bank accounts. An amount of Rs 1.80 lakh was traced to a bank account held by Ankit Sain, while Rs 2.22 lakh and Rs 2.20 lakh were traced to two accounts held by one Mohd Shariq Khan.
Another Rs 1 lakh was transferred to an account held by Tasleem Raja, and Rs 50,000 was routed to an India Post Payments Bank account, according to the investigation.
Imran emerged as a key member of the racket who allegedly arranged mule bank accounts, fake SIM cards and mobile phones, and withdrew the cheated money for other members, police said.
He had allegedly arranged Sain’s bank account for Rs 3,500 and retained its ATM card, cheque book and passbook. He would withdraw money credited to the account and hand it over to Yasir and other associates.
He had also allegedly arranged other bank accounts through Samad, including those belonging to Shariq and Tasleem. The money was withdrawn soon after being credited to reduce the risk of the accounts being frozen, police said.
Investigators found that Tasleem and Samad had come into contact with Imran through the online game PUBG. Imran allegedly visited Ludhiana to facilitate the opening of Tasleem’s bank account, while Samad arranged the linked SIM card.
After Rs 1 lakh was credited to the account, Imran allegedly withdrew Rs 50,000 through an ATM and facilitated further transactions through cheque and NEFT, police said. Technical evidence also reportedly corroborated Imran’s presence in Alwar and Ludhiana during the opening of suspected mule accounts and withdrawal of funds.
“The syndicate allegedly used the “Friends Search” application to identify potential victims by entering mobile numbers associated with particular cities or areas and searching for adjoining numbers,” the DCP said.
Police said the mobile numbers used to make sextortion calls to the complainant were also traced to locations in and around Kaltariya village. PTI SSJ SSJ SKY
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