Vaikom: Three persons, including two women, who allegedly extorted money from a middle-aged man by laying a honey trap, have been taken into custody in Vaikom.
The arrested were identified as Kunnappallil Rathimol, alias Sheeba (49), a native of Sasthakulam near Vechur; Ranjini (37), a resident of Padippurayil, Onamthuruth; and Dhans (39) of Illikulamchira, near Kumarakom.
Rathimol, the prime accused, asked the man, who has been into roofing works, to come to a house on the pretext of offering work. On reaching the house, she along with the other two accused forcibly shot a video of him in compromising positions, according to the complaint lodged by the victim.
The complainant is a relative of Rathimol.
Following this, the accused trio sought a payment of Rs 50 lakh from the victim, and on further negotiations, brought this amount down to Rs 6 lakh. They also threatened to circulate the video through social media in case of failure to pay up the amount.
The trio was caught by an investigation team led by K Karthick, District Police Chief, Kottayam. The accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded to custody.
The investigation also comprised the Assistant Commissioner of police, Vaikom, Nakul Rajendra Deshmukh; Sub-Inspectors Ajmal Hussain, Sathyan and Sudheer; and Civil Police Officers Sebastian, Sabu, Jackson and Bindu Mohan.
