Couple arrested for demanding extortion of Rs 1.5 crore from businessman

The police have arrested a married couple for allegedly blackmailing a businessman after honey-trapping him. The suspects had extorted around Rs 1.75 crore from the victim, the police said.

Sube Singh, a spokesperson of the Police Department, said the accused have been identified as Rakshit and his wife Isha, both hailing from Noida in UP.

According to a complaint lodged at the Sector 7 police station, Isha was a school classmate of the victim and had contacted him through Facebook during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

The accused allegedly made consensual physical relations with the victim after a meeting. According to the complainant, the woman, who had been working at a beauty salon, asked him to give her Rs 20 lakh for setting up her own business. Later, her husband demanded another Rs 20 lakh and threatened to file a rape case against him. In this manner, the couple allegedly extorted over Rs 1.5 crore from him in the past two years.

Allegedly, the money was demanded from the victim through WhatsApp. The victim filed a complaint with the police after the couple demanded Rs 5 crore as a final instalment to settle the matter.

The couple was arrested after they reached the office of the victim on Sunday and assaulted him after threatening to lodge a rape case. The couple was sent to police remand until May 31, said SHO Naveen Kumar.