Punjab man nabbed for blackmailing Mumbai blogger

A 32yearold man has been arrested from Zirakpur district of Punjab for blackmailing a Kandivlibased food blogger whose phone he had allegedly hacked into when she visited Chandigarh last yearAn officer attached to Samata Nagar police station where the woman had registered an FIR on August 29 told midday that the accused Navjotsingh Sandhu had been blackmailing her with her personal photographs videos and demanding moneySandhu had been harassing and blackmailing the food blogger since October 2021 she approached Samata Nagar police station when the level of harassment crossed her tolerance level said an officerHow he met the womanldquoThe accused Navjotsingh Sandhu runs Facebook groups where most food bloggers of India are members There was a competition among food bloggers in Chandigarh and the accused was anchoring the show The complainant won the second prize in the competition and hence Sandhu was in touch with herrdquo said an officer attached to Samata Nagar police stationldquoThe accused had been sending her her personal photographs and videos which she had stored in her mobile phone gallery Her phonebook was also compromised We are yet to learn whether the personal data of the victim was hacked into or transferred when her cellphone was lying unattendedrdquo said another officerAlso Read Myanmar slave trade Indian embassy releases list of scam agentsSandhu had been using fake Instagram accounts to send the complainants personal photographs ldquoThough she blocked one account after she received one of her personal photos the accused created another one to send her another photo He would demand money to stop harassing her and when the woman refused to send him money he had threatened to make her personal photos viral among her friends and relatives as he already had her phonebook details He had been continuously blackmailing her since October 2021rdquo said the officerldquoThe woman succumbed to the pressure and till date transferred around Rs 50000 The accused had given his gpay account to make online transfersrdquo he addedHe got access to her mobileldquoDuring the food competition the woman and the accused stayed in the same hotel in different rooms Sandhu somehow got access to her mobile phone gallery and phonebookrdquo the officer saidIn a bid to mount pressure on her Sandhu had also sent her personal photos to her brother who lives in Varanasi close colleagues of her husband her daughter and others This amounts to blackmailing said the police officerAfter learning about the details of Sandhu cyber cell as well as detection staff comprising Inspector Ganesh Pawar APIs Ajay Kavde Sandipan Ubale Amol Bhagat and constables got cracking on the caseldquoOur team visited Punjab and arrested Sandhu from Zirakpur district of Punjab He played the health card to stop him being sent on transit remand to Mumbai but our officers took medical opinion that allowed Sandhu to travel Now he is in our custodyrdquo Narendra Shinde senior inspector of Samata Nagar police station told middaySandhu has been booked under sections 354 a 385 500 503 506 of IPC and section 67a of IT Act Shinde said The investigating team has sent Sandhursquos mobile phone to the District Forensic Science Laboratory DFSL in Kalina to understand how the accused got access to the womans data to blackmail herldquoWe have also got the details of a few other victims whom Sandhu blackmailed to extort money from them He is not cooperating in the investigationrdquo saidan officer