Bhubaneswar: A 35-year-old divorcee woman enacted an abduction drama to extort a hefty amount from her own brother in Bhubaneswar.
The accused woman, who stays with her parents at a posh apartment in Chandaka area in Bhubaneswar, plotted her own kidnapping with the help of her boyfriend from Rajasthan and another youth.
The Commissionerate Police revealed the incident following a thorough investigation with the arrest of the woman and two others.
The accused woman has been identified as Smrutirekha Pani, her boyfriend Pradeep Ola and another associate Devi Lal. Ola and Lal are from Rajasthan, police commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said at a press meet.
Smrutirekha, a fashion designer by profession, developed an affair with Pradeep through Instagram around eight months ago. Her brother is a well-established stock trader based in Bengaluru.
After receiving the abduction complaint, police formed multiple teams and engaged a special squad and technical team.
“From technical and physical evidence, we came to know that they were heading towards Boudh. Accordingly, we sent multiple teams to Boudh. However, they returned to Nayagarh. We alerted the Nayagarh police and intensified checking at all static points. Finally, we managed to arrest the trio,” Panda said.
It is a clear case of extortion, he added. During interrogation, they confessed to their crime, the Commissioner said.
Smrutirekha had planned to marry Pradeep after extorting money from her brother.
The Commissioner said they were forwarded to court today
