Odisha Businessman Duped Of Rs 14 Lakh After Video Chat With Unknown Woman

Bhubaneswar: A businessman of Bhubaneswar has allegedly been duped of more than Rs 14 lakh by cyber criminals who blackmailed him after his video call with an unidentified woman.

Following a complaint lodged by the 55-year-old businessman three days ago, the cyber police station in Bhubaneswar launched an investigation into the incident that took place earlier this month.

The man, a resident of Nayapalli area in Odisha capital, received a message on WhatsApp on October 6 from the woman who identified herself as Chandra Shampa, police was quoted by TOI as saying.

As per the complaint, the two chatted for some time and the next day, the woman allegedly made a video call during which she shared her nude photos.

Thereafter, the businessman received a phone call on October 9 from a man who introduced himself as Ram Pandey, an IPS officer in New Delhi. The caller claimed that the woman had lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against the businessman with Delhi police.

The caller shared the phone number of another man, identified as Manoj, who demanded Rs 92,000 from to settle the issue with the woman, TOI quoted a police officer as saying.

Pandey again called the businessman and claimed that the woman had uploaded some photos she had clicked during their video call on YouTube and demanded Rs 71,000.

Pandey again called up the businessman the next day and claimed that the woman had killed herself in Bengaluru and that her parents would register a murder case against him if he did not pay Rs 4.5 lakh. Similarly, another Rs 4.5 lakh should be paid for a hospital to tamper the postmortem report of the woman and Rs 2 lakh more to manage the media, the report said.

In the process, the complainant paid Rs 14.44 lakh after being trapped and blackmailed by the fraudsters.