Two Held In Bihar For Blackmailing Pune Youth Who Died By Suicide

Two men from Bihar have been arrested in Pune for allegedly blackmailing a 22-year-old resident of Pune, Shikhar Saxena, who tragically took his own life on October 1st. The suspects, Akashkumar Sanjay Singh, aged 18, and Rajkumar Sampurna Anand Singh, aged 22, are accused of extorting ₹1.77 lakh from Saxena using five different bank accounts. Police have seized seven mobile phones, a laptop, and a tablet, valued at approximately ₹2.25 lakh. A court has remanded the two suspects in police custody until October 30th.

According to police, the suspects initially contacted Saxena through fake Instagram profiles created in women's names. They then persuaded him to join Telegram. During a video call, the suspects allegedly recorded an obscene video and threatened to distribute it, as well as falsely accuse Saxena of involvement in a drug case. One of the suspects reportedly used the alias Ajaykumar Bhatia during their interactions with Saxena.

Saxena's father lodged a complaint with the police on October 14th. A technical investigation, including the analysis of financial transactions, enabled the police to trace the suspects back to Bihar and freeze ₹1.14 lakh in their five bank accounts. Police are still searching for two additional suspects, Aniket Gupta from Ludhiana, believed to be a key accomplice, and Krish Kumar from Arunachal Pradesh, whose bank account was allegedly used to receive the extortion money.

Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Chavan and Assistant Police Inspector Ravindra Godse led the operation, supported by the cyber police team. Chavan emphasized that individuals facing online blackmail or threats of false criminal accusations should not pay the extortionists; instead, they should report the matter to their local police station or call the national cybercrime helpline at 1930.