A sessions court in Kolkata remanded the scions of two top business families in the city to six more days of police custody, in a case of sexual extortion and blackmail.
The Kolkata Police now has custody of two of the three accused in the case, Anish Loharuka and Aditya Aggarwal, till 11 February.
The police also added charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, claiming that the complainant was a minor at the time of the incident.
Loharuka is the scion of popular hotel and spa chain, O2 spa and hotels, while Aggarwal is from the family that owns apparel chain Prapti Fashions.
The police arrested the two on 28 January, while acting on the complaint of the woman who claimed that the two were threatening to make intimate videos of her public, if she didn’t pay them Rs 10 lakh.
Loharuka’s cook, Kailash Yadav, was also arrested earlier. Investigation has revealed that the two used Yadav to make phone calls and other communications during their extortion attempts.
Acting on a complaint lodged in November last year by the woman, Kolkata Police's Cyber Crime section first nabbed Yadav for allegedly making calls to the complainant to blackmail her. All calls were made on WhatsApp, the cops told The Quint.
Loharuka and Aggarwal were arrested later.
Once news of their arrest came out, one more woman came out with complaints of extortion.
The two would allegedly first trap women in relationships, and then record their intimate moments to blackmail them. Cops say they have been doing this since 2013.
Investigations have so far revealed at least 182 video clips from Loharuka’s laptop which feature at least 60 women.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)