HYDERABAD: The Jubilee Hills police have registered another POCSO case in connection with the alleged “sextortion” racket in the city, taking the total number of cases registered so far to five.
In the latest case, police arrested a 22-year-old man, identified as Jithender alias Jathin, for allegedly sexually assaulting and blackmailing a minor girl. He has been remanded to judicial custody. Police said Jathin is a friend of K Chandrasekar Azad alias Arjun, who was arrested earlier in a separate POCSO case linked to the same network.
Sources told TNIE that the accused allegedly took photographs of minor girls after befriending them, sometimes by invoking caste identity to gain trust.
Investigators suspect that fake or controlled Instagram accounts were created in the names of the victims and kept in private mode, where the photographs were uploaded. The accused allegedly threatened to make the accounts public unless the girls paid money.
A few days ago, Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar had questioned Azad, 29, a native of Guntur, who had earlier been arrested in 2025 for allegedly stalking and harassing the same girl. According to police, after securing bail, he resumed contact with the victim. He was arrested again recently, and the Nampally court granted police custody for further investigation.
Wives of girl’s car driver and watchman helped extortionists
Police alleged that Azad sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl after befriending her through Instagram and entering into a relationship with her. Investigators said he allegedly persuaded the girl to steal money from her father and hand it over to him.
According to police, after the girl’s parents learnt about the relationship, they lodged a complaint with the Jubilee Hills police. Though Azad was arrested and later released on bail, he resumed communication with the girl.
According to police, Azad allegedly took Rs 13 lakh from the victim on the pretext of starting a business.
Investigators also found that the wife of the girl’s car driver allegedly helped the victim communicate with Azad by providing her mobile phone.
Police suspect that the watchman’s wife also blackmailed the girl, threatening to inform her parents about the relationship, and extorted Rs 50,000 from her.
After the parents again discovered that their daughter was meeting Azad, they approached the police once more, leading to his re-arrest in April. Police registered cases under Sections 64(2) (rape) and 308(2) (extortion).
During the investigation, police questioned Azad regarding other possible victims, alleged extortion and money transfers. His mother, brother, uncle and several others were also named as accused on the grounds that they allegedly knew he was in contact with a minor girl.
A source told TNIE that Azad’s mother allegedly blackmailed at least two girls and extorted lakhs from them.
Police suspect that nearly 30 girls may have fallen victim to the network, though only five cases have so far been registered. The cases are under investigation.
