Nine-member gang extorts money by posing as cops, held

COIMBATORE: A nine-member gang which posed as police personnel and extorted lakhs of rupees from various people by threatening them over the phone was arrested by the Coimbatore police on Saturday.
The accused have been identified as B Sabari, 23, A Allanrex, 18, J Flavin Moses, 18, R Praveen Kumar, 20, L Kishore Kumar, 18, R Abhisheik Kumar, 21, P Dhanush Kumar, 19, R Manoj, 19, and R Agustin, 20.Sabari was the leader of the gang and the rest of the members, mostly college students, came into the network through their friends’ references.
Police said that the modus operandi of the gang was to randomly select mobile numbers and call them by posing as police personnel. They then tell the person on the other side that a case has been registered against them for watching pornographic content on the internet. They also play walkie-talkie sounds and threaten them by claiming to they have enough evidence against them.
One of the gang members would claim that he is a mobile court judge and would conduct the case trial. The gang then tells the victims to pay them if they want to avoid arrest and further action. Many people have fallen into the trap and paid between 25,000 and more than 1 lakh.
After collecting a huge amount, the gang visited Bengaluru where they spent the money in pubs lavishly. They also visited Goa.
Meanwhile, based on a complaint from four of the victims, the Coimbatore city cybercrime police registered four cases against the gang and arrested them from various places in Coimbatore and neighbouring districts on Saturday. The arrested youths were already facing cases at Trichy, Karur and Karamadai in Coimbatore district.
P A Arun, inspector of police, Cyber Crime police station said that hundreds of people were extorted by the gang but the victims were afraid to lodge complaints. “The victims should come forward to lodge complaints against the gang members. Their identities won’t be revealed to any one at any situation,” said Arun.
The nine accused were remanded in judicial custody.