Hyderabad: Narsingi police have arrested six people for allegedly extorting money from MLC Mirza Rahmath Baig by threatening to circulate morphed photographs and deepfake videos of him on social media. On Aug 28, Baig was expelled from the AIMIM. A day before his expulsion, he had lodged a police complaint alleging that unidentified persons were blackmailing him with threats to circulate morphed photographs and videos of him online. Hyderabad cybercrime police registered a case on Aug 27.Subsequently, acting on a separate complaint lodged by the MLC, Narsingi police arrested six people on Thursday night. The arrested were identified as Md Mohsin Khan (35), a poultry businessman; Fathima Begum (29), a homemaker; Md Sameer (20), Md Zameer (20) and Md Imran (18), all auto drivers; and Syed Rehan (20), a garments seller. All of them are residents of Bandlaguda and Chandrayangutta. “The accused allegedly demanded Rs 5 crore from the MLC by threatening to circulate his morphed photographs and deepfake videos online. They extorted Rs 5 lakh through an intermediary and demanded another Rs 5 lakh,” Narsingi police said.On the MLC’s complaint, police laid a trap at his office in Ibrahim Bagh on Thursday night. They arrested Fathima and the other accused after they received a box containing Rs 4 lakh in cash. Police seized Rs 4.7 lakh in cash, two autos, six mobile phones and a laptop from the accused. A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS. A manhunt has been launched to nab eight other accused who are absconding and had allegedly procured and circulated the morphed video material.
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