Police start probe into extortion bid by woman in Bhubaneswar
BHUBANESWAR: The commissionerate police have started a probe following allegation by a software engineer that a woman, who befriended him on Facebook, demanded Rs 50 lakh extortion.
The engineer (41) also alleged that the woman (39) threatened to slap rape charges against him if he did not pay the money. The engineer alleged that he and the woman developed friendship over Facebook only three months ago. She had invited him and one of his friends to her house on October 21. The next morning, a man called up the engineer and introduced him as her cousin. They (the woman and her cousin) alleged that the engineer raped her. They demanded Rs 50 lakh for not reporting the matter to the police, said Byomkesh Tripathy, the software engineer’s lawyer.
Though the engineer had lodged a complaint with the Chandrasekharpur police on October 22, the police did not register the FIR.
“We sent our complaint to the DCP office via post. We also moved the Orissa high court on October 27, seeking justice. The high court on October 28 directed the Chandrasekharpur police station to immediately register the case on the basis of my clients complaint and start the investigation,” Tripathy said. He suspected the woman and her cousin could be part of a gang to blackmail youths by laying honey trap on social media.
Deputy commissioner of police Umashankar Dash said the allegations were being verified. “We are aware of the high court’s direction. Investigation is in progress,” Dash said.