The Cyber Crime Police, Central Crime Station (CCS), Hyderabad has apprehended a 19-year-old person for cheating and blackmailing girls on Instagram. P Ajay, a native of Warangal district in Telangana, created fake Instagram accounts under different names and targeted innocent girls, including minors, by sending them friend requests.

He trapped women by requesting them to share nude images and videos of themselves. He subsequently blackmailed them, saying he would upload their private pictures over social media platforms unless they heeded to his desires.

On November 29, police registered a complaint from a minor girl who claimed to have been harassed and blackmailed with her private pictures on Instagram.

“The minor victim girl was getting messages from various instagram IDs. Later, the accused texted the victim from his account ‘rafipasha’ on Instagram and blackmailed her to pay money,” said the police.

The scared minor victim paid some amount to the accused, but he again demanded additional money.

The officer who was part of the investigation said that the 19-year-old approached innocent girls on social media accounts and trapped them by requesting them to share their nude selfie videos.

“He used to create different fake Instagram accounts with different names and he used to send friend requests to girls, including minors. After his friend request was accepted, he used to make friendships with them by casual chatting and subsequently moved to sexual content,” the police added.

The accused initially collected private pictures and then turned into a blackmailer.

The police have advised parents to supervise the activities of minors and educate them to not accept friend requests from strangers over social media platforms.