'The Onion Router': Kolkata billionaire gets Rs 25cr sextortion mail; threatened to circulate defamatory photos of kin

KOLKATA: A city-based billionaire who owns an ethnic retail empire valued at approximately Rs 14,300 crore, with stores across India, allegedly received a sextortion email demanding Rs 25 crore in Bitcoin. The sender threatened to circulate obscene and defamatory photographs and videos of the businessman’s wife and son if the demand was not met.

A complaint was lodged at Rajarhat police station, following which a case was registered. No arrest has been made so far.


According to the complaint filed by a senior employee managing the two bungalows of the businessman in Vedic Village, the first threat email was received around noon on Dec 15. The anonymous sender demanded payment within 24 hours, warning that failure to comply would trigger the release of objectionable content involving the businessman’s family members.

The email further threatened a sustained campaign of harassment. “It was stated that such material would be sent to at least 250 influential individuals and govt authorities in Kolkata every week, escalating to 1,000 recipients per week over a period of 12 weeks, thereby subjecting the family to public humiliation, mental trauma, loss of reputation, and irreparable social harm,” the complaint letter read.

The sender claimed the communication and dissemination would be carried out using the TOR network. “The sender claimed the use of TOR network will help them remain anonymous and evade detection, and further asserted that law enforcement authorities would be unable to trace or prevent the acts, clearly intending to instil fear and coerce payment,” the complainant stated.

Police explained that TOR, or “The Onion Router”, masks a user’s identity by routing internet traffic through multiple encrypted layers across computers worldwide, making tracing difficult. It also enables access to “.onion” websites, which are not indexed by conventional search engines and form part of the dark web.

“While TOR itself is legal in India, its anonymity is frequently exploited for crimes such as hacking, sale of illegal data, and extortion. Ransom demands are usually made in cryptocurrency to avoid detection,” an officer said.

A second threat email, sent from a ProtonMail address and containing similar demands, was received by the businessman’s son, asking him to inform his father. Both emails warned that no response or negotiation would be entertained.

Immediately after receiving the mails, sources said, the businessman called up senior IPS officers in Kolkata and Bidhannagar, who advised him to lodge a complaint with the local police station, immediately kickstarting the investigation.

“We are examining all possible angles, including whether there is any business rivalry or personal dispute that could be linked to the sextortion mails,” an officer said.

“Tracing servers linked to TOR networks is challenging, but our cyber team is actively working on the case. International cooperation has been sought to expedite the investigation,” the officer added.


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