The Cyber Police Station of Delhi’s North District apprehended a 30-year-old man, Sourav, for allegedly extorting money from young women by blackmailing them through social media using AI-generated morphed images. The arrest followed a complaint by a 19-year-old woman from Malkaganj, who reported being blackmailed on social media by an unknown person who sent her manipulated images and demanded money for their deletion.
The victim’s family transferred Rs 30,000 through a QR-code-based payment to the accused after he demanded the sum. Subsequently, he asked for more money in February, leading to another Rs 10,000 transfer through a cyber cafe. When the victim refused to provide contact details of other young women as demanded, the accused continued to threaten her, prompting her to seek police assistance.
A case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at PS Cyber, North District, based on the complaint. A dedicated police team, led by Woman Sub-Inspector Hanshul Gupta, apprehended the accused from the Bhalaswa Dairy area after collecting technical and digital evidence during the investigation.
Sourav, who worked for a private finance company, confessed during interrogation to engaging in cyber extortion for financial gain. He targeted young women on social media by posing as a job provider, collecting their resumes, and manipulating screenshots from video verification calls to create obscene images for blackmail. The accused had a history of similar offenses, having been previously arrested in cases involving extortion, sexual harassment, and stalking in 2022 and 2023.
