Noida: Two women among six held for extorting money from men using fake rape case threat

The suspects led by Chaudhary would call up people and invite them to parties. They would then accuse the targets of misbehaviour and rape, beat them up and extort money from them

The Greater Noida police on Wednesday busted a gang that used to honey trap victims and extort large sums of money from them by threatening to file false rape and sexual assault cases against them, officials said, adding that six people including two women have been arrested.

A Scorpio vehicle with Delhi registration plates, five Aadhaar cards, four ATM cards and other documents have been seized from their possession, police said. (Representational Image)

A Scorpio vehicle with Delhi registration plates, five Aadhaar cards, four ATM cards and other documents have been seized from their possession, police said.

The suspects were identified as Raj Chaudhary alias Haseen Mohammad, the mastermind of the gang and resident of Agra; Bhupendra Singh, also of Agra; Faizan Ahmed of Mainpuri; Rahul Kumar of Etawah; Sanjana Yadav of Sector-62, Noida; and Rifa alias Rustam of Bareilly.

“The suspects led by Chaudhary would call up people and invite them to parties. They would then accuse the targets of misbehaviour and rape, beat them up and ask for money,” said Ashok Kumar, additional deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

The case came to fore when Asadur Rahman, a resident of Moradabad, filed a complaint with the police saying that the gang extorted ₹50,000 from him by threatening to file a false rape case against him.

“The complainant and his friend, Nizam, were lured by suspect Rifa after he met her at a party organised by Chaudhary in Greater Noida some time ago. Rifa and Rahman would speak regularly on phone. On June 10, Rifa asked him and his friend Nizam to meet her near the Pi-3 roundabout in Greater Noida. Rifa then allegedly called four other accomplices, who arrived in a Scorpio. The gang allegedly beat up Rahman and Nizam and asked for ₹5 lakh. Rahman refused, but when they threatened to file a complaint against him on charges of rape, he gave them ₹50,000 that he had in the car,” said the officer.

Rahman and Nizam were then released by the gang, but they continued to threaten him and demand ₹5 lakh from Rahman, said the officer.

“The next day, Rahman approached the Beta-2 police station and submitted a complaint against the gang. An FIR was registered in the matter under sections of extortion, assault, cheating, forgery, wrongful confinement and criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code,” said Kumar.

Based on intelligence inputs, the gang was arrested from Pari Chowk in Greater Noida on Wednesday. “The gang is suspected to have extorted money from several people by taking videos of them in compromising positions and threatening to file cases. During interrogation, the suspects confessed to having trapped another target from a farmhouse in Sector 135 about 15 days ago, which was led by Sanjana Yadav arrested along with the gang,” said the ADCP.

“The other two men in the gang would pose as police officers and carry out a ”raid” on the woman and the victim and make videos of them to extort money from the victim. The amount extorted from the victim is yet to be ascertained. It is believed that the gang has been active in Noida-Greater Noida for about six months. Further investigation is underway,” said the ADCP.