Telangana youth held for cyber blackmailing US-based minor

Devanapally Sandeep Rao, 27, a resident of Nizamabad district, has been arrested for harassing and blackmailing a US-based minor girl. He shared the girl's photographs with her friend and forced the victim to talk to him and share more photos and videos. As the situation became unbearable, she informed her parents, who lodged a complaint with the police.

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Police have arrested an engineering student of Telangana for harassing and blackmailing a minor girl residing in the United States to share her nude photographs and videos with him through a social media platform.

Devanapally Sandeep Rao, 27, a resident of Nizamabad district, has been charged with criminal intimidation and using a child for pornographic purposes.

The sleuths of Cyber Crime arrested the accused who committed the offence by using Instagram, and recovered one mobile phone and connected incriminating evidence.

The police made the arrest within four hours after the girl's parents lodged a complaint.

According to the police, the girl residing in California accepted the accused's friend request on Instagram in March. He interacted with her and slowly started influencing her. During that time, she sent some 'inappropriate' photographs of herself.

She blocked him after he requested her to send some more nude pictures. Sandeep Rao then started blackmailing her by threatening to upload her inappropriate photographs on social media.

He shared the photographs with her friend and forced the victim to talk to him and share more nude photos and videos. As the situation became unbearable, she informed her parents, who lodged a complaint with the police.

Based on the complaint, the police registered a case against the accused under Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13 r/w 14 (1) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and took up the investigation.

A special team was formed and it apprehended the accused within four hours and produced him before a court, which sent him to judicial custody.

The police have advised people not to accept unknown friend requests on Facebook, Instagram etc. and not to share their personal photographs or videos with unknown persons.

PTI