Daijiworld Media Network – Nagpur
Nagpur, Dec 20: A 62-year-old senior doctor, serving as Head of the Department (HoD) at a leading city hospital, was allegedly honey-trapped, filmed nude and blackmailed by a criminal gang that extorted Rs 1.78 lac from him by threatening public exposure and a fabricated rape case, police said.
The Nagpur city police crime branch has arrested seven members of the gang so far, while six others are under scrutiny. Police revealed that four women, including a woman journalist, were also involved in the planned extortion racket.
According to investigators, the victim approached the Crime Branch on December 4, reporting months of harassment following an incident in September, when he travelled to Gondia to meet a friend. The accused allegedly lured him with the promise of sexual favours, secretly recorded explicit videos and photographs, and later posed as Gondia police personnel to threaten arrest and public humiliation.
Two accused, identified as Pathan and Ramtekkar, allegedly forced the doctor to withdraw Rs 1 lac from an ATM, while continued threats compelled him to transfer money to multiple bank accounts, taking the total extortion amount to Rs 1.78 lac. At one point, a woman’s brother allegedly created a ruckus at the hospital, while other gang members threatened to implicate the doctor in a false rape case.
Police said the gang initially demanded Rs 2 cr to prevent the videos from being made public, later agreeing to “settle” the matter for Rs 60 lac. Unable to withstand the pressure, the victim sought police help.
Acting on his complaint, ACP (Crime Branch) Abhijit Patil formed a special team led by PI Dilip Chandan. A trap was laid, and on Thursday, three accused — Nitin Kamble, Ashwin Dhanvijay, and Kunal Puri — were arrested when they arrived at a hotel to collect money. Further interrogation led to the arrest of Ravikant Kamble, Ritesh alias Pappu Durugkar, Ashish Kawade, and Avinash Sakhre.
Police recovered Rs 1,500 in cash and mobile phones worth Rs 1.56 lac from the accused. All seven have been remanded to police custody till Monday. A case has been registered at Tehsil Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 308(2) (extortion), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), and 3(5) (joint liability).
The operation was conducted under the supervision of CP Ravinder Singal, Joint CP Navinchandra Reddy, Additional CP (Crime) Vasant Pardeshi, and DCP (Detection) Rahul Maknikar. Police have urged anyone targeted by the gang to contact the Crime Branch or control room at 0712-2561222 / 2561333.