JAIPUR: A man was arrested for allegedly creating a fake Instagram account of his girlfriend and blackmailing her to extort money in Rajasthan's Ajmer district, police said on Monday.
The girl initially discussed the matter with the boyfriend that she was being blackmailed by someone by sharing her pictures and demanding money, they said.
The boyfriend suggested that she should pay the money to the blackmailer and not go to the police to get out of the issue.
He also told her that police cannot do anything because the Instagram is being operated from the US, they added.
The girl paid Rs 5,000 to her boyfriend believing that he would pay the amount to the blackmailer through mobile wallet, police said, adding the man kept the money with him and gave her a fake receipt.
When she was asked to pay Rs 26,000 more, she decided to approach the police and lodged a complaint at Adarsh Nagar police station on May 12, they said.
Based on technical investigation, police tracked the blackmailer who turned out to be the woman's boyfriend, Superintendent of Police Vikas Sharma said.
The man, identified as Maqbool, was arrested on Sunday and produced before a local court which sent him to judicial custody, police said.
Maqbool stole the victim's memory card and used her pictures in the fake Instagram account.
He then contacted the girl and threatened to share her objectionable pictures with her family and friends.
"During the course of the investigation, we suspected Maqbool because he had a lot of information about the girl and the photos, but the girl said she has full confidence in him," circle officer, Ajmer South, Sunil Sihag said.
Maqbool was married on May 10.
He used the phone of a painter, working in his home, to get OTP to create the fake Instagram ID, police said.