Police in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district have arrested a 29-year-old man for blackmailing and cheating over 20 women.

The accused has been identified as Vanka Kumar, who went by the name Ajit Kumar on Facebook. Kumar hailed from Tikkavanipalem in Kancharapalem. Using a fake account on Facebook where he claimed to be a doctor, Kumar got acquainted with several women online, some of whom were married. After befriending the women, he began a relationship with some of them offline. Following this he then began blackmailing the women with their pictures and threatened to leak the photos if they did not give him money or gold.

“One of the victims, a 31-year-old woman from Visakhapatnam’s Naidu Thota, filed a complaint with us and said that the had cheated her of 1.4 lakh rupees. Based on that we investigated the case and filed an FIR under sections 417 (cheating), 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (fraudulent use of an original document) of the IPC. We arrested him and brought him to court where he was remanded to custody,” stated an officer from Kancharapalem police station. Kumar, whose actual occupation was a driver, has cheated at least 20 women in this manner and investigation is underway to determine if there are any more victims.

This story was originally published on The News Minute and is reprinted here with permission. It can be viewed on https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/vizag-man-who-posed-doctor-facebook-blackmail-and-cheat-women-arrested-112479