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An extortion complaint has landed a senior citizen in Nashik, Maharashtra, after an investigation into his blackmailers uncovered 121 obscene videos, leading to his arrest for sexual exploitation after one of his victims came forward and accused him of abuse, police said on Saturday (April 4, 2026).
The police had earlier arrested four men for allegedly stealing a tablet from the office of a senior citizen in Satpur area and trying to extort ₹12 crore from him by threatening to leak his private photos and videos on social media.
Police seized four mobile phones, two pens and a memory card from the men and found 121 obscene and objectionable video clips of complainant Ravindra Ganpat Erande’s wives and friends while checking these devices, the official said.
In a twist to the story, one of the victims filed a complaint against Erande alleging that he sexually assaulted her on several occasions in different hotels with the promise of giving her son a government job, he said.
Following the complaint, Erande was arrested on Friday under Sections 69 (sexual intercourse by fraudulent means, etc.) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Information Technology Act and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the official said.
The investigation revealed that Erande sexually abused several women and made obscene videos with them.
The police urged the women to submit their complaints against Erande, assuring them that their identities would be kept confidential.
Erande had approached the Satpura police earlier this week with a complaint about the theft of his tablet from his office, saying he had already paid ₹10,000 to the extortionists and was to hand over ₹50,000 on Thursday evening.
Acting on the inputs, the police laid a trap and arrested Akash Pundlik Bakre, Prakash Ramdas Panpatil, Suraj Sunil Gawai and Shreepat Bhimrao Shinde in connection with the extortion and extortion offer.
Published – April 4, 2026 11:37 AM IST
