Kollam: Kerala police have busted a sex racket that blackmailed men after clicking their lewd photographs with women.
The gang was busted based on a complaint by a Thiruvananthapuram-based businessman.
The businessman was allegedly lured into visiting Kollam, and he, along with a woman belonging to the racket, checked into a prominent city hotel, posing as a couple.
While they were in the room, the other gangsters arrived and made the man pose with the woman, police said.
After photographing them, they allegedly threatened to forward the pictures to his family if he failed to pay them.
The gang took away his ATM card and after withdrawing Rs 80,000, demanded Rs 2 lakh more. It was then that the businessman approached the city police commissioner.
The East police laid a trap, and made the businessman contact the gang and promise to hand over the money. When they arrived in Thiruvananthapuram to collect the money, police picked them up.
Police said two women were involved in the racket and one of them was arrested from Kozhikode. The racketeers were from Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Malappuram.
The gangsters had contacted the businessman through one of his employees, police said.