In Tashkent, a criminal group consisting of five young men aged 18 to 21 has been dismantled for engaging in serial extortion through social media. The suspects created female profiles on Telegram to lure men, then assaulted them and demanded large sums of money under the threat of distributing intimate videos.

According to investigative data, the perpetrators set up fake female profiles on Telegram and initiated contact with men. Once the invited “date” entered an apartment, group members, including athletes, would attack and beat the victim. They then forcibly recorded the victims in compromising situations, accusing them of attempting to engage with minors.

The criminals demanded payments from the victims in exchange for not spreading the compromising materials online. In the most recent recorded incident, the group demanded 10 million soums from a victim. The group’s organizer had previously been convicted under Article 120 of the Criminal Code (“Sodomy”).

The arrest took place on Kataral Street during the handover of part of the demanded sum, amounting to 5 million soums. A criminal case has been initiated against the detainees under Part 2, Clause “v” of Article 165 (“Extortion”). Investigative actions are currently underway.

Source: podrobno.uz