NASHIK: A senior citizen from Maharashtra’s Nashik has landed in trouble after an extortion complaint led police to uncover 121 obscene videos, resulting in his arrest for alleged sexual exploitation after one of the victims came forward, officials said on Saturday. Earlier, police had arrested four men for allegedly stealing a tablet from the man’s office in the Satpur area and trying to extort Rs 12 lakh by threatening to leak his private photos and videos on social media, according to news agency PTI. During the investigation, police seized four mobile phones, two pen drives and a memory card from the accused. Upon examining the devices, officials found 121 obscene and objectionable video clips featuring women and acquaintances of the complainant, identified as Ravindra Ganpat Erande, an official said. In a turn of events, one of the victims lodged a complaint against Erande, alleging that he had sexually assaulted her multiple times at different hotels by promising to secure a government job for her son, the official added. Based on the complaint, Erande was arrested on Friday under Section 69 (sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means, etc.) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), the Information Technology Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Preliminary investigations suggest that Erande allegedly exploited several women and recorded obscene videos of them. Police have urged other women who may have been affected to come forward, assuring that their identities will be kept confidential. Erande had earlier approached Satpur police this week, claiming his tablet had been stolen from his office. He also informed police that he had already paid Rs 10,000 to the blackmailers and was expected to hand over another Rs 50,000 on Thursday evening. Acting on the complaint, police laid a trap and apprehended Akash Pundlik Bakre, Prakash Ramdas Panpatil, Suraj Sunil Gawai and Shreepat Bhimrao Shinde in connection with the extortion attempt.(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
