Cyber thugs make sextortion call to Union Minister Prahlad Patel, two arrested

The Delhi Police have arrested two people for making a sextortion call to Union Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel, India Today reported on Wednesday. The Delhi Police's crime branch has arrested Mohammad Vakil and Mohammad Sahib from Rajasthan's Bharatpur, while the main suspect, Sabir, remains at large.

The Crime Branch has found that the arrested individuals were associated with an organised gang involved in sextortion calls and blackmail activities.

The minister's personal secretary Alok Mohan filed a complaint with the police. According to the complaint, the accused directly targeted Minister Prahlad Patel by making a video call to his mobile number through WhatsApp.

During the call, they played a pornographic video with the intention of blackmailing him. However, the minister quickly ended the call and informed the police about the incident.

In December 2021, the Delhi Police had arrested five people in connection with extortion calls made to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra. Mishra had received phone calls demanding money, following which an FIR was lodged in the New Delhi district. Five persons — four from Noida and one from Seeraspur in Delhi — had been arrested for making the extortion calls.

The accused were trying to extort money from the minister claiming that they had some “incriminating” video clips, according to the news agency PTI. The minister was then in the news after his son was arrested in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which eight people, including four farmers and a journalist, were killed.

(With inputs from Arvind Ojha)