A man has been apprehended for allegedly extorting funds from a girl and her family after pressuring her into sharing explicit images, according to police reports on Monday. The suspect, identified as Sumit Kumar, 28, had previously been arrested in a case related to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in 2020. He was granted bail in February 2021 but became a proclaimed offender in March 2024 after failing to appear in court. Police indicated that the complainant reported that his daughter received a message on social media from a hacked account belonging to her former tutor. The sender falsely asserted that her nude photographs were online and provided a phishing link for her social media credentials.
After logging in, the suspect hacked her account and coerced her into sharing explicit images through threats. Kumar also blackmailed the complainant by sending altered images, threatening to distribute them unless he received payment, as stated by a senior police officer. On Monday, he was arrested at a wine shop in Noida following a coordinated operation. Authorities noted that Kumar is a repeat cybercriminal, having been previously arrested in Malviya Nagar for a similar scheme involving the hacking of women’s social media accounts, impersonating them, and extorting money by threatening to release altered images.
During questioning, Kumar revealed that after skipping bail in 2021, he returned to his home village in Bihar and subsequently worked as a housekeeping supervisor in an IT company in Noida, thinking he would not be located. He admitted to committing such offenses for quick financial gain, according to police. Investigations are ongoing to determine if he was involved in other similar crimes.