Kochi: Three more people have been arrested for trying to extort money from a shop owner in Muvattupuzha by threatening to circulate his obscene photos.
Arya, 25, the prime accused, and her friend Ashwin were earlier arrested in the case. The others arrested were Yaseen, Asif and Riswan.
Arya and her friends planned to honeytrap the shop owner and extort money from him. She worked at his shop.
Arya lured the shop owner to a lodge at Kothamangalam during the night. Two of her friends entered their lodge room, and forcefully took photographs of the semi-nude shop owner along with Arya. They then threatened to circulate these photos on social media. The gang demanded Rs 4 lakh from the owner.
However, when he said that he did not have the money, they took him away in a car. Arya was dropped off at her home and three more people got into the car.
They got hold of the shop owner’s ATM card and withdrew Rs 35,000. Meanwhile, the shop owner managed to get out of the car and alert the locals, who nabbed the accused and handed them over to the police.
The accused were presented in court and remanded. One of the accused tested positive for COVID-19.
