Six held for running honeytrapping-blackmailing racket

Five women and a man have been arrested in Indore and Bhopal for allegedly running a honey- trapping and blackmailing racket.

One of the accused had rented a house owned by former state minister and BJP MLA Brijendra Pratap Singh.

Aarti Dayal (29), Monica (18), Shweta Vijay Jain (39), Shweta Swapnial Jain (48), Barkha Soni (34) and Omprakash Kori (45) were arrested over the last two days.

Electronic gadgets including spy cameras, cash, mobile phones and a high-end SUV were recovered from their possession.

Indore Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ruchi Vardhan Misra said the arrests followed a complaint lodged by an engineer with the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) that he was being blackmailed by the accused.

Shweta Vijay Jain allegedly introduced Aarti Dayal to this IMC official eight months ago, the SSP said.

The two became friends. During one meeting, a video clip was shot, and later the accused demanded Rs 3 crore from the official, threatening to make the clip public if he did not cough up the money.

After he appraoched the police, a trap was laid. The official told the accused that he would pay Rs50 lakh in the first instalment. When Aarti and Shweta Jain arrived in Indore in an SUV to collect the money, the two, along with their driver Kori, were arrested.

After quizzing them, police arrested three more women from Bhopal, SSP Misra said.

Shweta Swapnial Jain (48), one of the accused, had rented a house from Panna BJP MLA Brijendra Pratap Singh at the posh Rivierra Town here.

Singh, a former Madhya Pradesh minister, said he had nothing to do with Jain except that she was his tenant.

"I am ready to face any inquiry. I had let my house to her through a broker since September 1, that was all," the MLA told PTI. "The broker had told me it was a good family," he added.

Asked about the Congress' accusation that many BJP leaders were involved in the racket, he said the government was free to carry out a probe through any investigation agency.

State home minister Bala Bachchan said in Indore that nobody, whether an official or a politician, would be spared if found involved in the racket.

Asked about rumours that some politicians and IAS and IPS officers were involved, additional superintendent of police Amarendra Singh said it was too early to comment.

The accused were produced before a court in Indore which remanded them in police custody for three days, ASP Singh said.