In a major breakthrough into the prevailing nexus of cybercrime in the city, the Noida Police have arrested 4 people belonging to three different gangs working on the line.
The four men identified as Vishnu Singh, Abdul Wahav, Pankaj Kumar, and Anurag Kumar Singh have been charged under relevant sections of the IPC over the crime after they were caught placing cameras in the OYO rooms with an intention to blackmail people checking into those rooms by recording their intimate moments.
The police in its detailing about the matter said, “The group would then blackmail the couples and threaten to leak the videos if they did not pay up.” Police further said that the preliminary investigation up until now suggests that no hotel staff are involved in the racket.
On the question of the manner in which how these gang members execute their plans, the police said, “Members of the group allegedly booked rooms in OYO hotels and placed hidden cameras in the rooms before checking out.”
Adding further the police said, “After a few days, they checked in again and took the cameras. They then contacted the targeted couple in a bid to blackmail them.”
The groups from which these members belonged were involved in a number of illegal activities, including unauthorized call centers and providing fake sim cards for Phishing and other illegal activities.
Police seized 11 laptops, 21 mobile phones, and 22 ATM cards during the raid, adding the gang has widespread operations around the country. Police have launched a manhunt to nab one of the operatives of this gang.
"The accused Vishnu and Abdul Wahav used to send videos of intimate moments to the couple's phone and demand money from them, threatening to post the videos online if their demands were not met.
The third accused, Pankaj, used to provide the registered SIM and account registered in the name of other persons for the extortion money," senior cop Saad Mian Khan said, explaining the gang's modus operandi.
OYO which is indirectly landed at the center of the case is yet to respond in the matter, however, the police haven’t found any sort of involvement of the hotel employees in the incident.