Mumbai: Friends film man’s intimate act, demand Rs 5 lakh; one held

The police are on the lookout for the second accused who is on the run. Representation pic

A 26-year-old Versova man has been held for trying to extract Rs 5 lakh by blackmailing his friend with the latter's intimate video. The anti-extortion cell of the Crime Branch is also on the lookout for another friend of the complainant who secretly recorded the private clip when he was with his girlfriend in a hotel room.

Crime Branch sources said the accused were friends with the 20-year-old complainant for the past 8 months. The complainant told the police that the arrested accused, Arbaaz Hanif Ukani, alias Maddy, met him at Lokhandwala a few days ago and threatened to post the private video on social media if his demand was not met.

Also read: Mumbai Crime: Auto driver arrested from UP for stealing IT engineer's bag

"The complainant pleaded with him to delete the video, but the accused demanded Rs 5 lakh. He also revealed how the video was recorded," an officer from the anti-extortion cell.

Quoting Ukani, the complainant told the police that the absconding accused Zaid, alias Babu had recorded the clip when he and his girlfriend were in a hotel room in Andheri. Zaid entered the hotel room to place his phone on charge. While Zaid left the room, an app on his phone recorded the goings-on in the room.

The complainant told the police that Ukani threatened to kill him if he didn't pay up. Ukani also allegedly claimed that he had good relations with local police stations. While he wanted the money at once, he agreed to be paid on December 13 after much haggling.

The complainant later decided not to give in to the extortion bid and approached the Oshiwara police, which transferred the case to the anti-extortion cell. Ukani was arrested on Monday and produced before the Killa court, or Metropolitan court, on Tuesday. He has been remanded in police custody.