With the arrest of six persons, including three policemen, for allegedly raping and exploiting a 28-year-old model, the investigators are now trying to ascertain whether the accused had extorted money from her.
The six were arrested yesterday following a complaint filed by the model that she had been victim of rape and extortion by them.
The victim had sent an SMS to Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria on April 21, complaining about her alleged sexual exploitation by some men, including two assistant police inspectors and a head constable of the city police.
Maria then called her to his office and after hearing her forwarded the complaint to MIDC police station, following which a case was registered under the Sections 376 (rape), 354 (a) (sexual harassment), 384 (extortion) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
“Since extortion part has been corroborated with the complaint filed by the victim, our efforts are on to retrieve the extorted money,” Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni said, adding they were also trying to verify the model’s allegations of rape and sexual harassment against the accused.
The model had alleged that the three policemen had taken her to Sakinaka Police Station on April 13, detained her illegally and extorted money to the tune of Rs 5 lakh.
“We are in process of corroborating her statement as to how and when she managed to get the money to pay the accused,” another police officer said on condition of anonymity.
The accused would be produced in a court later today, police added.