Spy Camera Racket Busted in Gwalior Hotel, Engineering Student Mastermind Arrested

Police in Gwalior have busted a gang that secretly recorded couples' private moments in hotel rooms using spy cameras hidden inside bulb holders.

The mastermind of the racket has been identified as Radha Chaubey, an engineering student, who along with her friend Bhupendra Dhakad and his associate Brijesh Dhakad, trapped youths and extorted money by threatening to make their videos viral.

Police said Radha would book rooms in Hotel Virat Inn and later Bhupendra and Brijesh would install a spy camera fitted into a bulb holder. After a few days, they would return, remove the device and retrieve the recordings.

During interrogation, it was revealed that Radha even booked a hotel room for her friend and her boyfriend, and secretly filmed them. Later, the gang demanded Rs 1 lakh from the youth, threatening to release his intimate video.

The case came to light after Pushpendra Prajapati (27), a resident of Chinor, filed a complaint. He alleged that after staying at Hotel Virat Inn with his girlfriend on July 26, he received WhatsApp messages threatening to leak his private video unless he paid Rs 1 lakh.

Frightened, Pushpendra first transferred Rs 5,000, then Rs 45,000 to the gang's account in Bank of Maharashtra. When they demanded another Rs 50,000, he confided in his brother and approached the police.

Tracing the blackmail number led police to Radha, who admitted she had formed the gang due to financial problems and a desire to pursue MBA studies. Mobiles and pen drives recovered from the accused contain videos of multiple couples.

Jhansi Road CSP Hina Khan confirmed that the three accused have been arrested and sent to jail. "We have registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act. The role of hotel staff is also being investigated, as the gang operated there for several days," she said.

According to police, Radha played a "sympathetic friend" to victims, pretending she could arrange money for them, while in reality, it was a psychological tactic to increase pressure. The gang had plans to target many more couples but failed to collect their contact details from the hotel reception.