Army man held for ‘rape & blackmail’ of rifle shooter

Agra: An Army personnel accused of raping and blackmailing a 22-year-old rifle shooter from Agra on the pretext of helping her secure a job in the armed forces was arrested on Tuesday.The survivor, a district-level medal-winning shooter, said in her complaint that she first met the accused at an event in Agra two years ago. He gained her trust by promising to help her get recruited into the Army. In Sep 2025, he took her to Dehradun on the pretext of completing recruitment formalities, police said."There, he allegedly mixed intoxicants in her food at a hotel. When she was semi-conscious, he raped her and secretly recorded objectionable videos and photographs on his mobile phone," an Agra Police official told TOI.According to the complaint, he later used the videos and images to blackmail her. When she resisted, he allegedly circulated the content on social media and sent threatening calls and messages from multiple numbers.Police said he also stalked her during competitions, contacted her acquaintances by sending the objectionable material, and demanded Rs 5 lakh in exchange for deleting the videos.After months of alleged harassment, the woman informed her parents and filed a complaint at an Agra police station in Jan this year. A case was registered under BNS sections 123 (causing hurt by poison), 64 (rape), 308(2) (extortion), 78(2) (stalking), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), along with relevant provisions of the IT Act.ACP Gaurav Singh said on Wednesday, "Further investigation is underway, including verification of his claims of being an Army personnel and his deployment in Punjab."