The Indian police have arrested one Chijioke John Okoye, a 31-year-old Nigerian for allegedly extorting money and blackmailing an Indian woman who later died by suicide on March 1.
Okoye who had been residing in India’s capital since 2020 was apprehended in New Delhi’s Palam Colony on Friday after a detailed investigation.
An Indian online news outlet, Indian Express that reported the story stated that police brought the suspect to Cuttack on Sunday for a court appearance.“Cuttack police launched an inquiry after the victim’s family filed a complaint following her death”.
According to the newspaper, a suicide note revealed that the victim had been repeatedly blackmailed and threatened by an unknown individual on WhatsApp.
The Cyber Cell of Cuttack Urban Police District traced the suspect through international phone numbers linked to the case. Okoye had allegedly created over 3,000 fake Facebook profiles, impersonating professionals such as doctors, and using those fake profiles to send friend requests to other profiles in similar domains.
DCP Khilari Dnyandeo explained, “ after developing a friendship with them, he cunningly used them to obtain their mobile and WhatsApp numbers on the pretext of having a relationship with them. Once he established contact, the police said he would allegedly convince victims to share private and intimate photos or videos by sending them fake images of the individuals he was impersonating”.
The police said he would then use this material to blackmail and extort money from the victims, same tactics the suspect used on the Cuttack woman, threatening to release her private content unless she continued paying him.
“Overwhelmed by fear and unable to escape his demands, the 37-year-old woman ended her life, the police said, according to the report.
Though Okoye is Nigerian, the police said he was found to possess a passport issued by Côte d’Ivoire, which is currently under verification. Following his arrest, police recovered a laptop, five mobile phones, and eight SIM cards from different countries.
The Cuttack police added that they were investigating whether he acted alone or was part of a larger cybercrime network. “He will be taken on remand for further investigation to ascertain whether he was operating alone or working as part of a larger cybercrime syndicate,” Dnyandeo stated.
