Noida: Conman Blackmailed 50 Women, Read Out Lines From Durjoy Datta's Novel

Ravi Singh is a conman with a signature style, who has allegedly blackmailed 50 women in the last two years. He was in the middle of yet another performance, in City Park, Noida on Tuesday evening sitting under a tree and reading from Durjoy Datta’s book when the police arrested him. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Singh reportedly would hit City Park regularly with a bag in which he carried a webcam for video chats, a diary, and a copy of Datta’s The World’s Best Boyfriend. It is a romance written by Datta which revolves around the characters Dhruv and Aranya. 

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Reportedly, Singh would pull out a suitable line from the book to portray the image of the down to earth, non-materialist, simple man of books who liked being amid nature. Once the impression had been made, his tone would change to almost being sleazy reported The Times of India.

He reportedly had sex chats with many of the women who stayed in touch with him. After some time these women reportedly received screenshots or video clips of the chats, and demands for a payoff, or an expensive gift. Singh would record screenshots and chats in his Pendrive. 

What Police said about the case

Police said that Singh has blackmailed at least 50 women over the past few years. They found 25 SIM cards, five cell phones, two web cameras, seven fake Aadhaar cards, a diary and Datta’s novels, as per the Times of India report. He wrote short forms of women's names in his diary with their phone number. Most of the women he targeted were people he befriended on social media or his college.

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Vishal Pandey, Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police said, “He surely knew how to strike up a conversation. A few chats later, he would persuade women to share their phone numbers. He targeted many such women in the past two years. He had written their names in his diary in such a way that nobody could understand easily.” 

Police also found gold coins and an expensive watch from his house. Reportedly, he also received debit cards from some women. When Police asked him how he managed to gain the trust of those women, he said that he would read lines from Datta’s novel The World’s Best Boyfriend. He has confessed that he had blackmailed many women. 

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An FIR has been registered against Singh under Indian Penal Code sections 420 for cheating, 467 for forgery of valuable security, 468 for the purpose of cheating, 471 for fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any document, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2008. 

Sagrika Giri is an intern with SheThePeople.TV