Anoushka complains of blackmail, Mumbai businessman arrested

Sitar player Anoushka Shankar, daughter of legendary composer Pandit Ravi Shankar, has been blackmailed using some of her photographs allegedly by a businessman who has been arrested in Mumbai.
    
Twenty-nine-year old Junaid Khan, who hails from Thane, allegedly used some of Anoushka's photographs to blackmail her after hacking into her e-mail account, police said today.

He was picked up from Mumbai on Tuesday by Delhi Police's Special Cell after investigations into a complaint filed by Ravi Shankar last month alleging that his 28-year-old daughter was being blackmailed by someone, a senior police official said. He was produced in a city court last week which first sent him to five days police custody and yesterday to 14-days judicial custody.

Sources said Khan appeared to have known Anoushka for the past sometime and had been following her concerts.
    
"He had even sent threatening mails and text messages to her from outside the country demanding money. The first mail and text message were sent from Dubai when he was there," the official said adding they found this after examining the internet protocol address as well as GPRS connection through which these mails were sent.

Khan allegedly hacked into the inbox of Anoushka's e-mail and accessed her photographs. He allegedly sent at least six e-mails to her demanding money for not making the photographs public. He had even demanded USD one lakh in one e-mail, the official claimed.

A spokesperson for Anoushka said the young musician was not willing to comment as of now as investigation into the case was on.

In his complaint, Ravi Shankar, who lives in the US, is learnt to have claimed that Anoushka had given her laptop to a service centre in south Delhi in February.

Initial suspicion was that the photographs were accessed when the laptop was being repaired by the service centre.
    
"We think that the material in the laptop was copied by someone. We interrogated the staff at the Apple Services Centre. Later, we zeroed in on the Mumbai-based man and arrested him," the official said.
    
Ravi Shankar also reportedly provided details of an investigation done by a private detective agency in the US but the police refused to provide any such details.

Police had last week registered a case under Section 386 of Indian Penal Code which relates to extortion by putting in fear of death or hurt and provides for a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail. Some provisions of IT act will also be invoked against the suspect.