Bengaluru police have arrested a schoolteacher and two of her accomplices on charges of blackmailing and extorting money from a student's father. The accused, who are 25-year-old Sridevi Rudagi, Ganesh Kale (38), and Sagar (28), were arrested for asking for Rs 20 lakh from the victim, who had earlier paid Rs 4 lakh under pressure.

The father, whose name has been changed to Satish, had admitted his five-year-old daughter to a school in western Bengaluru in 2023. When he was meeting Rudagi during the admission, he was interacting with him because Rudagi worked at the school. The two remained in contact, sending each other messages and video calls on a different SIM card, police reports say. Their relationship gradually became personal.

Police shared that Rudagi initially took Rs 4 lakh from Satish. In January, she asked for another Rs 15 lakh. When he did not act, she came to his residence under the pretext of borrowing Rs 50,000.

As his business started facing difficulties, Satish decided to move his family to Gujarat. When he approached the school in early March to collect his child’s Transfer Certificate, he was allegedly trapped in Rudagi’s office. Kale and Sagar were also present.

The two men allegedly showed Satish private photos and videos of him and Rudagi and threatened to send them to his family if he didn't pay Rs 20 lakh. Satish attempted to negotiate and agreed to pay Rs 15 lakh, initially sending Rs 1.9 lakh. But the demands didn't end.

On March 17, Rudagi called him again, allegedly breaking down the payment structure – Rs 5 lakh for a former police officer, Rs 1 lakh each for Kale and Sagar, and the remaining Rs 8 lakh for herself.

Realizing he was being blackmailed, Satish reported to the police. Investigations soon found that the alleged police officer was not related to the case at all. Authorities arrested Rudagi, Kale, and Sagar and took them to judicial custody for 14 days.

The police are still investigating to see if there are other victims in the case.



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