Man held for extorting Rs.4 cr, gold from Vizag woman

Visakhapatnam: The Vizag city police have arrested 40-year-old B. Akshay Kumar, a native of Srikalahasti town in Tirupati district, for allegedly extorting over Rs.4 crore and 800 grams of gold from a woman by blackmailing her with objectionable photos and videos.

The police said Kumar tried to call his friend but dialed the wrong number in 2020 and got acquainted with a 35-year-old woman. Though the woman ignored the phone calls, he sent messages to her, enquired about her personal details, developed a friendship forcibly, and was forced to talk with him. When she refused to talk any further, he started blackmailing her by saying that he had her voice recordings and would send them to her husband.

Kumar initially extorted Rs.10 lakh from the victim at a shopping mall at Maddilapalem in Vizag. He then forcibly took her to a hotel room, sexually assaulted her without consent, and recorded the act. Over time, he continued to threaten her, demanding large sums of money and gold jewelry. In total, he extorted around Rs.4 crore in cash and gold jewelry and made her deposit about 800 grams of gold jewelry in two banks.

Akshay Kumar further threatened to release the victim’s recordings to her husband and family and even threatened to pour acid on her husband’s face if she did not comply with his demands. About a week ago, Kumar pressured the victim to meet him at a hotel, and when she refused, he threatened to send the intimate material to her in-laws and husband, pushing her to the brink of suicide.

Later, she finally confided in her husband and brother-in-law, and with their support, she approached the Three-Town police station and filed the complaint on March 23. The Three town police arrested the accused and recovered one car, a mobile phone and 65 gms of gold from the accused. Kumar was sent to remand.