BENGALURU: A 31-year-old owner of a cosmetic clinic has filed a complaint against a social media influencer on charges of extortion. The influencer is accused of blackmailing the complainant for Rs 1.5 crore after befriending him for promoting his clinic on social media.
The complaint was filed by V Karthik Putha, whose clinic located in Jayanagar 4th Block provides personalised skin, hair and aesthetic treatments. He filed a complaint against the social media influencer, Sadhana Shetty, at Jayanagar police on April 13. Police have summoned her and investigation is under way.
Karthik stated that while searching on Instagram for advertisement and promotion of his clinic, he came across Sadhana Shetty, who creates promotional videos. In August 2024, the complainant met Sadhana at a café in Jayanagar to discuss the plan. Sadhana eventually grew close to him, and allegedly obtained Karthik’s private conversations, personal photos and videos. Karthik said she also secretly recorded his private videos during their meetings.
Using these, Sadhana allegedly blackmailed him, threatening to send the pictures and videos to his wife and family members and circulate them in the media if he did not pay up Rs 1.5 crore.
An officer said that fearing the consequences, the complainant claims to have transferred a total of Rs 5lakh to her bank account, paid her Rs 5lakh in cash, gave her a gold ring and chain worth around Rs 1.05 lakh, and an iPhone worth Rs 1.5 lakh.
However, she continued to demand Rs 1.5 crore, offering to delete the videos only after payment. When the complainant said he could not pay such a large sum, she allegedly sent the videos and audio clips to his wife’s WhatsApp number, causing disputes within his family and disturbing his domestic life.
Sadhana is alleged to have visited Karthik’s clinic repeatedly, threatening him to pay up and claiming that the data was stored on her mobile phone, with copies on a pen drive with her mother, and two others. A case of extortion (BNS 302(2)) and under different sections of the IT Act of 2000 were registered against her.