Thiruvananthapuram: The city police arrested a two-member gang, including a woman, for extorting money from a teenager by threatening to file a rape case against him. They were identified as Maheen Kannu of Milk colony, Poonthura, and Sheeba, daughter of Mariam of Ramya Bhavan, Sheemavilamukku, Vattappara. As per the complaint filed by the victim’s father, the teenager had taken an autorickshaw driven by Maheen to go home after his tuition classes. During the journey, Sheeba boarded the vehicle.
After a while the duo started to threaten the student alleging that he had raped the woman. They demanded Rs 5,000 from him and the scared boy withdrew money from the ATM and gave it to them. He was later dropped at Pulimoodu. The teenager reported the incident to his father who registered a complaint with the police. The owner of the vehicle was identified based on the CCTV visuals. A shadow police team nabbed the accused and confirmed that Sheeba was earlier accused in similar cases.
They are verifying whether more people have been black mailed in a similar manner. “Though such incidents have come to the notice of the police, action could not be taken as victims were not ready to officially lodge complaints,” the police said in a statement. The suspects were held by a team led by control room assistant commissioner Suresh Kumar, Vanchiyoor SI Ashok Kumar and Shadow police SI Sunil Lal.
