Mumbai: Blackmailer who got hands on victim’s iPhone arrested

Danish Momin Ansari, 34, the accused

After an investigation that lasted more than a month, the police arrested Danish Momin Ansari, 34, a mobile phone technician, for allegedly blackmailing a 26-year-old woman. Ansari had got access to videos of the woman and her boyfriend from her iPhone that had been stolen. The phone technician had bought the woman's stolen iPhone from a drug addict.

The woman, a singer by profession, got the shock of her life when she received videos of herself being intimate with her boyfriend on her mobile phone in November. She received a call from an unidentified person who claimed to possess all the videos stored in the stolen device. The caller threatened to forward the videos to all the contacts on her mobile phone if she did not pay Rs 5 lakh.

Terrified at the prospect of the videos becoming public, the singer tried to commit suicide by consuming phenyl. Timely medical intervention saved her life, but the accused continued sending videos and demanding money. Seeking help, the singer approached the Bangur Nagar police with her mother and narrated
her ordeal.

"We registered a case under sections 380 and 387 of the IPC. Under the guidance of DCP Ajay Kumar Bansal, ACP Renuka Bagde, senior police inspector Pramod Tavde, and API Vivek Tambe from the cyber cell, the investigation commenced. After over a month of diligent work, we successfully arrested Ansari, who was operating Soni Mobile Shop at Malvani Gate number 7," said a police officer from Bangur Nagar police station.

Being a mobile phone technician, Ansari possessed the knowledge to avoid being traced. He strategically made calls away from his home location and never called from one place. He used to call the victim while travelling on local trains to evade location tracking. The calls were made using a SIM that didn't belong to him.

Ansari claimed to have bought the iPhone from a drug addict at a throwaway price. The iPhone was locked with a password and it took hundreds of attempts for Ansari to guess the password and access the phone. In the phone's memory was a trove of intimate videos of the woman. As the woman didn't have the money to pay Ansari he made several calls to her.

"Every call and video on WhatsApp plunged her into a deep depression, with suicide appearing as the only escape in her mind," said the police officer. The police provided regular counselling, offering updates on the progress of the investigation and provided some solace and courage to the victim.

"The victim informed the accused that she had approached the police and sent a copy of the FIR to him. In response, the accused dismissed her and mocked the police as they could never catch him. This disheartened the victim and her mother as well. Both of them had decided to end their lives," said the police officer.

Even as the police counselled the victim and her mother, assistant police inspector Vivek Tambe and his dedicated team, intensified the investigation and worked tirelessly round-the-clock. Analysing call data records from every location where the accused had called, Tambe sought guidance from his superiors. "Finally, with the help of these call records, a clue to the accused's whereabouts emerged, leading to the successful arrest," the officer said.

"Following the arrest of the accused, we successfully retrieved the victim's phone from his possession. We recovered the handset and SIM card used by the accused to send videos and make calls to the victim's number," said Ajay Kumar Bansal, DCP, Zone 11.

DCP Bansal said that the police are investigating if Ansari had committed similar offences. Ansari has been remanded in police custody till December 18.

"We urge the public to safeguard themselves by setting strong passwords and refraining from storing objectionable photos and videos. This precautionary measure is essential to prevent falling victim to such malicious activities," Bansal said.

Rs 5lakh
Amount demanded by blackmailer