Indian Lawyer Blackmailed Young Teen with Morphed Photos

Indian lawyer Chetanya Sagar Soni, aged 25, from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, was arrested on Monday, April 1, 2019, for blackmailing a teenage girl.

He threatened the 16-year-old girl on Instagram and intended to upload morphed photos of her onto social media.

Soni used a fake account to initially lure the victim on the social media platform to chat with him before he started blackmailing her.

A case was registered against him in December 2018 and a thorough investigation was underway until he was arrested.

Soni created the fake account under the name of Umar Sultan on Instagram. He used pictures of models to make his account look more appealing.

In November 2018, he sent a friend request to the Mumbai-based girl and they began chatting to each other. Soni later asked her to send him pictures after he had sent pictures of himself to her.

However, after receiving the pictures, Soni began blackmailing the teenager through the sham account. He had edited the girl’s photos with compromising results and threatened to upload them to social media.

He also told her to contact him on an app-based number where he would verbally abuse her.

The girl eventually told her parents about the incident and they went to Sakinaka police station in Mumbai to file an FIR against Soni.

After the case was registered, officers began an investigation, however, it took longer than expected as Soni was using an app-based number. This made it difficult for police to trace him.

Abhishek Patil led the investigation and continuously monitored the case for more than three months to trace Soni.

Soni was caught in Jabalpur on Monday, April 1, 2019, with the help of technical support.

Sub Inspector Abhishek Patil said: “The accused has been arrested under various sections of IPC and relevant sections of the IT Act.

“He was produced before the court on Wednesday and granted police custody for two days.”

Another officer from the station added:

“We are analysing his social media accounts as we suspect that he could have done the same with many other women via social media.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police Navinchandra teddy advised parents to be vigilant as to what their children are up to on social media.

He also appealed for people to come forward and report similar incidents to the police.

Befriending unknown people online is something which can have huge consequences. It can result in online blackmail and stalking among others.