Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): A man from Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior used Ayushmann Khurrana's movie ‘Dream Girl’ as a modus operandi to blackmail and extort money from hundreds of men across India.
According to police, the man, identified as Durgesh Singh Tomar, used to talk to men in a woman's voice, pretending to be a girl named Pooja.
He gained their trust through social media and then lured them into sending private and nude photos. Later, he blackmailed them by threatening to leak the photos online unless they paid him money.
‘Got idea from movie’
What was even more unexpected is that Durgesh admitted he got this idea after watching Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana's movie ‘Dream Girl’, where the lead character speaks in a woman’s voice and works in a call center.
He practiced mimicking a girl’s voice and created several fake social media accounts under the name ‘Pooja’ and other identities. After building emotional connections with victims, he sent them obscene content and convinced them to share personal images and videos. He then used these to extort money by morphing the content and threatening to make them viral.
The accused is said to have cheated hundreds of men across India using this technique.
Held by Agra police
The Agra Police, tracking him through surveillance, raided his location in Gwalior. Initially, they believed the blackmailer to be a woman. However, during the operation, it was revealed that ‘Pooja’ was actually a man.
Police also found a viral video where Durgesh demonstrates his fake female voice while talking to one of his victims.
He is now in police custody and being taken to Agra for further questioning. Authorities will investigate his mobile data and check whether he operated alone or had a gang. The police will also try to trace the total amount of money he extorted from victims.
