NewDelhi: In a major operation against a cyber fraudster, the West Delhi Police Cyber Team has arrested a cyber extortionist accused of impersonating a freelancer from an American firm. Tushar Singh Bisht, 23, was arrested on the evening of January 3 at Shakarpur after he duped over 700 women out of their money through fake relationships for dating apps such as Bumble and Snapchat.
As per the statement of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) West Delhi, Tushar was using fake social sites accounts to trap the girls in the age group of 18 to 30 years. After making contact, he would threaten them, sending lewd pictures or videos, in order to receive money online. Police arrested him with a mobile phone, i-numbers, which is an application that allows the user to have an international mobile connection, and 13 credit cards with him.
Tushar worked as a freelance model based in the United States who flew to India for dating apps. Leveraging this, he established himself with the victims and requested their phone numbers as well as the explicit photos and videos they took, which he used to keep unnoticed. At first, he never demanded any cash, but over time he started blackmailing them.
If any victim did not pay, Tushar vowed to release their visuals on social media or the dark web market. The police said that he had messaged more than 500 women on Bumble and over 200 women on Snapchat and WhatsApp.
The police involvement in Tushar’s activities was reported when a Delhi University student reported him to the Cyber Police Station on 3rd December, 2024. She met Tushar on Bumble in January 2024 to become friends and via media apps, including WhatsApp and Snapchat. While on the stand, she has been sending him personal photos and videos.
When she wanted to meet Tushar in person, she was rejected, and he was always finding reasons not to meet her. Finally, he began to record and transmit obscene clips and demanded cash from her. Stating herself as in danger, she first offered him a small amount of money but later narrated the ordeal to her family and took the matter to the police.
The police also found more than 60 records of WhatsApp chats with women from Delhi and nearby areas on Tushar’s phone. First enquiries showed that Tushar had threatened at least four other women and had demanded money from them in the same way as the complainant.
This case brings out the increasing cases of cyber fraud in which unsuspecting persons are conned by individuals found through dating applications and social networks. The Delhi Police are still trying to persuade people to be careful around strangers they can meet via the internet.
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