Bhubaneswar (Orissa): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has begun probing the Odisha lady blackmailer and honey trapper case in which one Archana Nag and her husband, Jagabandhu Chand, have been arrested by the police for extorting prominent persons. A case has been registered and those having links with Archana Nag are likely to be served notices, sources said.
The bank statements of the accused will be verified as part of the latest probe. Already, the police have filed two cases against the accused lady, Nag, who is accused of honey trapping and extorting huge amounts of money from politicians, businessmen and film producers. The Odisha couple is charged with blackmailing prominent persons in public life with their nude photos and videos.
The Odisha-based 28-year-old woman made headlines by extorting money to lead a lavish lifestyle. In 2015, Archana moved to Bhubaneswar along with her husband to pursue law as a profession. Archana eventually chose to blackmail high-profile individuals. Their modus operandi was to record intimate videos through hidden cameras and then extort high networth individuals.
After her arrest, the Bharatiya Vikash Parishad (BVP) filed a petition in Orissa High Court seeking ED probe into the lady blackmailer case. On her part, Archana filed bail plea in a Bhubaneswar court. According to information, the accused Archana Nag sent friend requests to prominent people on Facebook as a lawyer and a member of a frontline political party. After friendship on social media, she used to contact and seduce the victims.
Also Read: Odisha: Man gets 20 yrs in jail for raping a minor, now his wife
Later, she was calling them to her house, moving intimately with them and then recording videos with secret cameras. Her offences came to the fore after a police complaint lodged by a film producer. Two pen drives and as many mobile phones, used in honey trapping, were seized from her possession. The accused lady has honey trapped more than 25 influential persons including 18 MLAs, sources said.
The issue got political overtones once again ahead of the crucial bypoll to Dhamnagar constituency. The story of the Odisha couple reads like a Bollywood film script. Archana Nag hails from Odisha’s Bolangir and she enrolled for an law degree in Bhubaneswar. She later worked at a private security firm but left it within a few months to begin a beauty salon.
Later, she got married to Jagabandhu Chand of Odisha's Balasore district. Both of them took a plunge into honey trapping ever since. They introduced themselves as members of a prominent political party to their potential victims, who included rich businessmen, ministers, MLAs and even filmmakers. Things turned bady for the couple after Archana demanded Rs 3 crore from a filmmaker to not register a case.
The filmmaker filed a complaint at Nayapalli police station which was followed by a woman registering another complaint against Archana Nag at Khandagiri police station. The woman alleged that the couple offered her food, which was allegedly spiked with drugs. When she lost consciousness, the couple allegedly took nude photos and videos.
