DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand Police have dismantled a sophisticated extortion ring operating via social media, arresting three youths from Haryana who allegedly blackmailed a restaurant owner in Srinagar Garhwal. The accused were targeting the business owner by threatening to sabotage his reputation with a manufactured video of unhygienic food.
The investigation began after the victim, S.K. Jain, filed a formal complaint at the Srinagar police station. According to the police report, the suspects orchestrated a smear campaign, claiming they had found a cockroach in their meal during a visit to the restaurant in November 2025.
The primary accused, identified as 22-year-old Akshat Anand, and his accomplices allegedly used high-pressure tactics to intimidate the owner. Armed with the fabricated footage, the trio threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). They demanded a hefty extortion sum of Rs 2.5 lakh, threatening to impose a Rs 10 lakh fine on the business and threat to viral the video on social media platforms if their demands were not met.
The suspects even went as far as creating and sending a forged legal notice via WhatsApp to create a sense of urgency and fear.
Under the directive of the Senior Superintendent of Police, a specialized team led by Inspector Kuldeep Negi was formed to track the digital footprint of the extortionists. Through rigorous analysis of bank transactions, GPS locations, and other technical evidence, investigators traced the suspects to Jhajjar, Haryana.
"The accused had meticulously planned this extortion racket. They visited the restaurant in November, staged the entire incident, and then initiated a systematic campaign of harassment to extort money," a police official associated with the investigation stated.
Under constant duress, the victim’s family had initially transferred Rs 50,000 via UPI to an account linked to the suspects.
Following the successful operation in Haryana, the police arrested the three main accused: Akshat Anand alias Sahil (22), a native of Begusarai, Bihar, currently residing in Chhatarpur, Delhi; Sohel Akhtar (23), from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, currently residing in Ambedkar Colony, Delhi; and Ritesh Mishra (22), from Seraikela, Jharkhand, currently residing in Jhajjar, Haryana.
The trio was presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Srinagar, which ordered them to be remanded to Pauri Jail.