HYDERABAD, September 4: A Nampally court has granted the Jubilee Hills police permission to take two key accused into custody for two days for questioning in a case involving the alleged trapping and blackmailing of minors from affluent families through Instagram.

The accused, Koduri Meena Kumari and Vineel Chaudhary, were taken into police custody after the court granted the investigators’ request. The police are expected to question the duo about the alleged network and its financial transactions.

According to the police, the gang targeted minor children from wealthy families by establishing contact with them through Instagram. The alleged kingpin, Arjun alias Koduri Chandrasekhar Azad, reportedly befriended minors from affluent families and gradually gained their trust by making promises and developing close relationships with them.

The police allege that the accused subsequently coerced some of the girls and recorded private videos. These videos were allegedly used to threaten the minors and their family members and extort large sums of money.

Investigators suspect that financial transactions linked to the alleged extortion were routed through the bank account of Arjun’s mother, Meena Kumari.

Jubilee Hills police arrested Meena Kumari and Vineel Chaudhary in Rajasthan on August 11 in connection with the case. The investigators later approached the Nampally court seeking their custody for further questioning.

With the court granting two days’ custody, police are expected to question the accused about the alleged victims, financial transactions, digital communications and other members who may have been involved in the network.

Investigators believe that the questioning could provide further leads and reveal additional details about the alleged operation.