Nagpur: Tehsil police have arrested a 30-year-old man from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly plotting to extort ₹3 crore from a Rajasthan resident by getting a false criminal case registered against him. The accused, Aditya Sureshchandra Gupta, a resident of Shahid Nagar in Agra, allegedly offered a 19-year-old woman ₹5 lakh to lodge a fabricated complaint against Irfan Ali, a resident of Churu in Rajasthan.

The alleged conspiracy came to light after the woman, identified by the pseudonym Bhoomi and a resident of Mominpura in Nagpur, approached Tehsil police with a complaint involving online blackmail.

According to the complaint, the woman had befriended a person through the ‘Mika’ app after being promised a job. She alleged that she was coerced into engaging in virtual sexual activity and threatened with the circulation of screen recordings. She also claimed that money was being demanded from her through blackmail.

Police registered a case and began investigating the allegations. Gupta, who had accompanied the woman to the police station, allegedly tried to influence the investigation by claiming connections with senior politicians and the corporate sector. He also reportedly attempted to dictate which evidence the police should seize.

His conduct raised the investigators’ suspicions, prompting them to question the woman separately. During the inquiry and in her statement recorded before a court under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), she allegedly revealed that she did not know Ali.

The woman reportedly told investigators that Gupta had offered her ₹5 lakh to file a false complaint against Ali. Police suspect that the alleged plan was to implicate Ali in a fabricated criminal case and subsequently extort ₹3 crore from him.

Following the revelation, Tehsil police arrested Gupta and produced him before a court, which granted his police custody remand (PCR) for further investigation.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangre Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police Navinchandra Reddy, Additional Commissioner of Police Vanita Sahu, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rahul Madne and Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivprasad Parve.

Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Mendhe, Sub-Inspector Sandeep Bhitale and their team conducted the investigation and arrest.