Domestic help extorts Rs 3 lakh from Indian Oil employee, held
By Omkar Khandekar
The DN Nagar police have arrested a 35-year-old woman for extorting a senior Indian Oil official by threatening to submit video footage of the official allegedly molesting her to the police. However, when police seized the CD containing the purported footage and played it, it contained only Hindi music videos.
Tandra Ghosh, who had worked for the complainant, Manoj Kumar Panda (53) as a fulltime domestic help for five months before quitting in April, had initially demanded Rs 20 lakh and had received Rs 3 lakh after much negotiation. On December 15, when she demanded another Rs 1 lakh, Panda approached DN Nagar police.
According to the FIR, Ghosh allegedly stole money within a month of joining. “As her conduct was otherwise good, the family dismissed it thinking that they might have spent it,” said Waghmode. In the second month too, Ghosh allegedly stole money. This time, Panda confronted her and during their argument, she allegedly misbehaved with him.
“In April, the accused called the complainant to tell him she had video footage of him misbehaving with her. She allegedly threatened to go to the police with the footage and file a complaint, and demanded Rs 20 lakh to keep mum,” he said.
Waghmode said complainant was expecting a promotion and did not want a police case against him. “He told us that he might have accidentally touched her at some point. Beyond that, he claimed he was only scared of his image being tarnished,” he added.
Panda negotiated with her and brought the amount down to Rs 3 lakh, paid Rs. 45,000 in cash and deposited Rs 2.55 lakh in her bank account. She then left their employment and didn’t contact the family till December.
This time, she promised to hand him the footage if he paid Rs 1 lakh. Panda then approached DN Nagar police station on December 15. As the FIR was being registered, he received another call from Ghosh.
“We told him to pick up the call and play along. Based on our instructions, a meeting was fixed for 6 pm between them at a fish market in Versova. We laid a trap and arrested the woman from the spot,” the officer said. Ghosh has been remanded in police custody till Wednesday.
The DN Nagar police have arrested a 35-year-old woman for extorting a senior Indian Oil official by threatening to submit video footage of the official allegedly molesting her to the police. However, when police seized the CD containing the purported footage and played it, it contained only Hindi music videos.
Tandra Ghosh, who had worked for the complainant, Manoj Kumar Panda (53) as a fulltime domestic help for five months before quitting in April, had initially demanded Rs 20 lakh and had received Rs 3 lakh after much negotiation. On December 15, when she demanded another Rs 1 lakh, Panda approached DN Nagar police.
Panda, a resident of Indian Oil Nagar in Andheri (W), is a deputy general manager with Indian Oil and stays with his family. “The complainant hired the accused as a domestic help on the website run by Human Helping Hands, an organisation which provides such services,” said PSI Hanumant Waghmode, the investigating officer in the case.
According to the FIR, Ghosh allegedly stole money within a month of joining. “As her conduct was otherwise good, the family dismissed it thinking that they might have spent it,” said Waghmode. In the second month too, Ghosh allegedly stole money. This time, Panda confronted her and during their argument, she allegedly misbehaved with him.
“In April, the accused called the complainant to tell him she had video footage of him misbehaving with her. She allegedly threatened to go to the police with the footage and file a complaint, and demanded Rs 20 lakh to keep mum,” he said.
Waghmode said complainant was expecting a promotion and did not want a police case against him. “He told us that he might have accidentally touched her at some point. Beyond that, he claimed he was only scared of his image being tarnished,” he added.
Panda negotiated with her and brought the amount down to Rs 3 lakh, paid Rs. 45,000 in cash and deposited Rs 2.55 lakh in her bank account. She then left their employment and didn’t contact the family till December.
This time, she promised to hand him the footage if he paid Rs 1 lakh. Panda then approached DN Nagar police station on December 15. As the FIR was being registered, he received another call from Ghosh.
“We told him to pick up the call and play along. Based on our instructions, a meeting was fixed for 6 pm between them at a fish market in Versova. We laid a trap and arrested the woman from the spot,” the officer said. Ghosh has been remanded in police custody till Wednesday.
