Delhi Police arrest man for blackmailing, extorting money from women on Bumble

NEW DELHI: On December 13, a complaint was received at PS Cyber West wherein the complainant (college-going second-year Delhi University student) reported that in the beginning of January 2024, she met a person on an online dating platform, Bumble, who introduced himself as a US-based freelancer model who had come to India for some work. They became friends, and then they started chatting on the social media platform, an official said.

A police official said, “During this friendship, the victim shared her private photographs/videos through Snapchat and WhatsApp with the fraudster. The victim asked the accused to meet in person on several occasions, but he refused by giving one or another excuse. Later, the accused sent a private video of the victim to her on WhatsApp demanded money from her and threatened her that if she did not pay him, then he would either leak/upload her nude photos and videos online or sell those to someone else.”

“The accused kept pressuring the victim, and under constant pressure from the accused complainant, also made some payment. She gave a very small amount, saying that she is a student and has no money at all. After receiving the payment, the accused again asked for money from the complainant and started pressuring her again. As a result, the victim got traumatized and conveyed the situation to her family and then lodged a cyber complaint.

#WATCH | Delhi: DCP West Vichitra Veer says “A complaint was received in our cyber police station on 13 December in which a woman said that she came in contact with a person through a social media platform. During this time that person took her into confidence and made her share… https://t.co/RQAkdxraBL pic.twitter.com/Pzd9JIgf1u

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2025

Accordingly, a case was immediately registered at PS Cyber West, and an investigation was taken up. During the investigation, the accused was identified as Tushar Bishr (23) son of Ganesh Singh Bisht resident of Delhi. Immediately, a raid was conducted by the team in the Shakarpur area of East Delhi, and the accused, Tushar Bisht, was arrested.

DCP West, Vichitra Veer, said, “During the interrogation of the accused, it was revealed that he had been using a virtual international mobile number for the past two years. This number, obtained through an application, was used by the accused to register on various chatting platforms such as Bumble, Snapchat, and others”.

“On chatting applications, he projected himself as a US-based freelancer model who is visiting Delhi for work and used the photo of a Brazilian model as his profile picture. He had also posted his pictures and stories on his fake IDs to make them look authentic. He used to connect/send friend requests to girls in the age group of 18 to 30 years on Bumble (a dating application). If the girl accepted his request, he used to befriend them”, Veer added.

After befriending girls, the accused would engage in chats with them and request their nude photographs and video clips. Many girls complied and sent their explicit videos and pictures. Upon receiving these, the accused would save the content using screen recording. Initially, he engaged in this activity for amusement, but over time, he began demanding money from the victims. If a girl refused to pay, he would threaten to upload her explicit content on various social media platforms or sell it online.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he had communicated with hundreds of girls and stored their private photos and videos on his phone. He further admitted to extorting money from several girls by blackmailing them using their private photos and videos.

In addition, Tushar Bisht, S/o Ganesh Singh Bisht, R/o S-539, School Block, Gali no. 2, Shakarpur, Delhi, age 23 years, belongs to a middle-class family. His family has his father, mother, and sister. His father is a private driver by profession, and his mother is a homemaker. His sister is working in Gurugram. He has done BBA and has been working in a Noida-based private company as a technical recruiter for the last three years. The accused got into these activities out of greed and to romantically get in touch with young girls. (ANI)