Woman blackmails diamond artisan, extorts 2.5L

Surat: Puna police booked a woman for allegedly extorting Rs 2.59 lakh from a 33-year-old diamond worker by threatening to make intimate videos viral. Police said the accused entered a relationship with the victim and repeatedly demanded money, warning him of dire consequences if he refused. An investigation has been started.According to the FIR, the complainant works as a diamond artisan in Kapodra and lives in Surat with his wife and five-year-old child. In 2023, while working at a diamond unit in Kapodra, he met the accused woman, who lived in an apartment opposite his workplace. On April 3, 2023, she called him and asked to meet at a nearby temple. After their initial meeting, they exchanged phone numbers and began speaking regularly. They later developed a relationship. On April 18, 2023, they allegedly had physical relations in a room in Kapodra. During this period, the complainant spent money on shopping and other needs of the accused woman and sent funds to her via UPI whenever she asked. The FIR states that they also had physical relations while travelling in a sleeper coach to their native place in Saurashtra and at her residence in Kapodra on several occasions. The complainant alleged that he later learnt the woman was in a relationship with another man and had also borrowed money from him. After he stopped sending her money, she allegedly threatened to file a rape complaint if he did not continue paying. When he refused, she filed application with Mendarada police in Junagadh district. Though a compromise was reached, she allegedly continued demanding money and threatening him with legal action. The FIR further states that the woman warned the complainant that she would inform his family and make their photos and videos public if he did not pay. When he again refused, she allegedly sent photographs to his brother-in-law and later filed a rape complaint with Kapodra police in 2025. After this, the complainant said he made enquiries in Surat and at his native place and learned that the woman had allegedly trapped several other men in a similar manner to extort money. He also alleged that her husband and a friend were part of the conspiracy. Puna police have booked the woman, her husband and the friend for conspiracy, extortion and criminal intimidation and are investigating the case.