NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, NOV 10
The Ahmedabad cybercrime branch on Tuesday arrested a 28-year-old deputy collector for allegedly stalking and blackmailing a woman government officer with her private photos and videos, which he had acquired when they were working together and became friends, police said.
A complaint was lodged against the accused, identified as Mayank Patel, a class 1 state government officer serving as deputy collector in the Aravalli district, by the woman officer, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime, Amit Vasava.
Despite being married, Patel has been pressuring the victim, who is also married, to keep relations. When she refused to accept his demand, Patel started harassing and blackmailing her using her private photos and videos, the DCP said.
Patel was arrested under sections section 354-D (stalking), 500 (punishment for defamation), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
He was also booked under the Information Technology Act for the breach of privacy and sending obscene material to the victim and her relatives, said Vasava.
Patel, who became deputy collector in 2018 after clearing the competitive exam, had come in touch with the victim in 2016 when they were working in a town in the Kheda district. He was serving as a class-3 revenue officer back then.
“He and the woman officer maintained friendly relations in the past and both used to visit each other’s house. However, when the woman snapped relations and stopped talking with him, Patel started harassing her by calling her from different numbers for the last year. He used to threaten to commit suicide and also threatened to kill the victim,” said Vasava.
The accused used nine different numbers to call or message the victim. “If the victim ignored his calls, Patel used to call her husband and threaten him using foul language,” said Vasava, adding that Patel had sent the victim’s private photos and videos to her husband and her father-in-law.
Modasa Dy Collector arrested by #Ahmedabad Cyber crime branch for harassing a woman #TV9News pic.twitter.com/umqlPIIOu7
— Tv9 Gujarati (@tv9gujarati) November 9, 2021
“At one point, Patel even tried to show the woman’s private photos to her son. Though the victim’s family tried to make him understand that what he was doing is wrong, he did not mend his ways. Patel did not even listen to his family members, who were aware of his activities. His only objective was to pressure the victim in continuing the relations,” said Vasava.
