NAGERCOIL: A 26-year-old Nagercoil youth was arrested on Friday for blackmailing young women whom he had befriended on various social media platforms, according to a release from the Kanniyakumari district police.
The youth, a resident of Ganesapuram Main Road, had several accounts on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, onto which he would upload his photos and gym workout videos in order to ensnare young and affluent women. He would develop relationships with the girls and obtain their personal details and contact numbers.
This would progress into frequent phone and video calls during which he would coax them into meeting him. During such meetings he would allegedly take videos or photos of the girls in compromising positions. He would also take screenshots of the girls’ private video chats with him.
The youth allegedly used these videos to extort money from the girls later, threatening to upload these onto social media if they did not oblige. Investigation into his criminal activities began after one of the girls lodged a complaint against the youth and a team, led by Nagercoil All Women Police Station Inspector Santhakumari, arrested him on Friday. The release said that detailed investigation into his accomplices and identification of his fake social media accounts as well as retrieval of photos/videos were underway.