Surat: A two-year-old case of extortion has come to light in the city, with Athwalines police arresting two men for allegedly blackmailing their friend with a nude video and extorting Rs 39 lakh in cash, 130 tolas of gold, and 5 kg of silver from him.According to police, the duo allegedly lured the 56-year-old to a farm on the Bardoli–Palsana highway, where they arranged for him to have sex with a woman from Mumbai. They secretly recorded his nude video and later used it to blackmail him.The complaint was filed by the 31-year-old son of the victim, whose family owns a women’s garment shop in Chauta Bazar. The family had an FD of Rs 39 lakh with Bank of Baroda, and 130 tolas of gold ornaments and 5 kg of silver coins and jewellery stored in private lockers.The son told police that his father had gradually become withdrawn and had been speaking less with family members over the past two years. Ten days ago, while checking his father’s phone, he found photographs of gold ornaments sent to an unknown mobile number.When confronted by family members, the man broke down and revealed that his friends Mehul Jadiya and Vinod Manani had been blackmailing him and had extorted cash, gold, and silver from him.The victim told his family that about two years ago, the friends took him to a farm on the Bardoli–Palsana highway, claiming they had called a woman from Mumbai for “enjoyment.” They sent him into a dilapidated room with the woman. After some time, the accused entered the room and recorded a nude video of the victim with the woman.Embarrassed and uncomfortable, the victim came out of the room, and all three later left the farm.When he objected to the recording, the accused allegedly told him they were joking and claimed to have deleted the video. However, the next day they restored the video from the phone’s recycle bin and showed it to him.They then threatened to circulate the clip and demanded that he hand over money and valuables, as they were aware of his financial assets.Police said they allegedly made the victim drink liquor regularly and gradually forced him to hand over cash, gold, and silver over the past two years.Fake ornaments used to replace originalsSince the victim’s gold and silver ornaments were kept in private safe vaults, the accused allegedly devised a plan to replace them with duplicates. Police said the duo contacted Adinath Jewellers and Uttam Bengali and sent them photographs of the original ornaments. Based on these images, imitation ornaments were made and supplied to the accused, who placed them in the lockers so that the victim’s family would not suspect anything. The accused allegedly sold the original gold and silver to Yusuf Chowksi, who has also been booked as a co-accused in the case.
