Six held for trying to extort Rs 40 lakh from girl,parents

Six people were arrested on the charges of trying to extort Rs 40 lakh from a minor girl's parents by threatening they would upload morphed pictures of her on social media, police said on Wednesday.

The six included a man who had befriended the girl on a social networking site and collected Rs 11.5 lakh from her over a period of time by giving different reasons after gaining her confidence.

The accused,all aged below 25 and private employees, were arrested on Tuesday from Andhra Pradesh,police said.

The man who got money from the girl went to his native Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh and informed his friends about it.

Sensing her "gullible situation", all of them teamed up and tried to extort money from her by blackmailing her saying they will upload morphed photos of her on social media, police said.

However, the girl refused to pay them any amount following which they approached her parents and tried to extort Rs 40 lakh.

On a complaint from the parents, a case was registered and all the six accused were arrested following investigation, police added.