CUTTACK: The Commissionerate Police will take sextortion accused Nigerian national Djedje Raymond alias Chijioke John Okoye on a five-day remand beginning Wednesday for interrogation.
The 31-year-old has been accused of blackmailing and extorting money from a woman in Cuttack, who, unable to bear the humiliation ended her life on March 1. He is currently lodged in Choudwar jail.
DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo said the Commissionerate Police had prayed the court for a seven-day remand. However, the court allowed five days. “Police would carry out further investigation to ascertain details including the magnitude of the cyber crime syndicate and the exact amount of financial transaction that occurred between Okoye and the deceased,” he said.
Police said the accused could not be interrogated earlier due to lack of time.
“The laptop, five mobile phones, a passport of Ivory Coast and eight SIM cards of different countries seized from him would also be examined,” he said.
This apart, details about his financial transactions including where the accused kept his extorted money and how he spent it is also under investigation. “Apart from international links, we also suspect involvement of persons from different parts of India in this cyber crime syndicate. Okoye is suspected to have been using those people’s accounts for depositing the extorted money. We have also collected information from some banks about his financial transactions and are hopeful of gathering more details during interrogation,” the DCP said.
A dedicated team of police officers including the zone ACP, inspector-in-charge of Dargha Bazar police station, special squad and officers of Economic Offences Wing and Cyber Crime police station has been constituted to interrogate Okoye, Khilari said.
The accused was arrested from New Delhi on March 21 and brought to Cuttack on Sunday to be produced in court. As per police, he had been living in the Palam Colony of the national capital since 2020.