KOLKATA: The Kolkata Police are actively investigating a fraud case involving the mobile gaming app E-Nuggets and have solid evidence that the main suspect also operated a sextortion ring disguising it as a contact centre.
Late Thursday, the police raised a call center operated by Subhojeet Srimani, a close associate of the key accused Amir Khan, at Behala's Mahabirtala area.
The authorities found sexually explicit films, screenshots, and links to mobile dating apps on PCs they took from the centre. Up to 15 contact centre employees, largely young women, have been taken into custody to be questioned. However, Srimani has vanished, and his family claims that he is currently in Dubai.
Sources said, the authorities found a specific pattern in the way this racket was operated. First, links were made using social networking sites like Facebook to identify the probable targets. The targets were invited to join WhatsApp video calls after becoming friends and exchanging phone numbers.
As the targets engaged in sexually explicit video conversations, they were then recorded. The victims were later coerced into paying enormous sums of money under the threat that, if they did not, the video chats would go viral on social media.
Asit Majumdar, a senior Trinamool Congress leader and three-term party member from the Chuchura Assembly constituency, was the victim of an interstate extortion attempt earlier this month.
Majumdar, however, evaded the malicious attempt and filed an FIR with the local police. In the meantime, a staggering sum of Rs 74.68 crore has been collected in relation to the E-Nuggets app fraud ring.
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