Gurugram:

In a shocking case of online fraud in Gurugram, a 15-year-old schoolgirl was blackmailed with her morphed images and forced into transferring a sum of Rs 80 lakh from her grandmother’s account she had access to through online banking. Police have made six arrests in the case, which was registered in December last year. The latest arrest was made yesterday and the cops recovered the grandmother’s debit card and a sum of Rs 5 lakh from the accused. A total of Rs 36 lakh has been recovered so far and the investigation is on, the cops have said.

In her complaint filed at Sector 10 police station, the Class 9 student’s 75-year-old grandmother said she had received a substantial sum in her bank account after a land sale. Her granddaughter had access to the account. Some people blackmailed her, threatening to circulate her morphed images. The scared teen transferred Rs 80 lakh in batches to the phone numbers given by the accused. Based on the complaint, a case was registered and the investigation began.

According to a report in The Times of India, it all started with a casual chat in school. The teen mentioned the bank account and the huge deposit to a friend and that she had access to it. The word got around and a Class X boy came to know. He then told his elder brother and the latter passed it on to his friend and planned the crime.

Twenty-year-old Sumit Kataria, now arrested, befriended the teen online. He then allegedly morphed her photos on social media. These morphed photos were sent to the teen and she was told that they would be circulated if she did not pay.

After several batches of payments, the cash in the account dried up. One of the blackmailers then reached the teen’s coaching class and threatened her. The teacher noticed that the girl was upset and when he asked her, she confided in him. He then informed her family and her grandmother approached the police.