Cyber Crime
Digital Arrest: ACP’s Son Blackmailed Over Fake Explicit Video, Forced to Pay Thousands
Cybercrime is rapidly increasing in Uttar Pradesh, with a recent case emerging from Kanpur. In this incident, the son of an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), a doctor by profession, was digitally blackmailed by cybercriminals who threatened to release doctored explicit videos of him.
Adnan Zaidi, the doctor son of ACP Nayab Ali Zaidi, began receiving manipulated obscene photos on his WhatsApp number. The cybercriminals had tampered with his pictures and threatened to make the explicit content go viral on social media if their demands weren’t met. Over a span of seven hours, they kept Adnan under “digital arrest,” coercing him to transfer money in multiple transactions.
One of the fraudsters, identifying himself as Agam Singh, sent a barcode that required Adnan to make 11 transactions totaling Rs 16,249. Even after transferring the money, the criminals continued to demand more, sending an audio message the next day, instructing him to transfer another Rs 1,800 by noon.
Feeling helpless, Adnan finally informed his ACP father, who promptly lodged a complaint at the Kotwali police station. The case was filed under the IT Act, and the cybercrime cell is now investigating.
In a similar case in Lucknow, a marine engineer was digitally held captive for 48 hours by cybercriminals who falsely accused him of being involved in a money-laundering case related to Naresh Goyal. The criminals claimed they were investigating his bank accounts and, during this period, siphoned off approximately Rs 84 lakh from 11 different accounts.
Shockingly, the engineer’s family was unaware of the digital arrest for two days. The criminals used this time to drain his accounts, leaving the victim devastated.