A 25-year-old Bengaluru school teacher, Sridevi Rudagi, has been arrested for blackmail and extortion on allegations of taking advantage of an affair with a student’s father to extort money. Rudagi and two of her accomplices, Ganesh Kale, 38, and Sagar, 28, have also been arrested for the crime. They extorted Rs 4 lakh initially from the victim, Satish (name changed), and later extorted another Rs 20 lakh by threatening to release intimate pictures and videos of their trysts.
The Beginning of the Affair and Extortion Plot
Satish, a businessman in a western Bengaluru neighborhood, admitted his five-year-old daughter to a school in 2023 where he encountered Rudagi, who handled the admissions. Professional conversation soon turned intimate as Satish and Rudagi exchanged messages and video calls on a different phone and SIM card. The closeness of their relationship intensified, and Rudagi started demanding money from him.
In early 2023, Sridevi Rudagi asked Rs 4 lakh from Satish for the first time, and he paid it under duress. However, the extortion did not end there. Rudagi demanded another Rs 15 lakh in January, and when Satish delayed, she pursued the matter further by going to his house on the pretext of borrowing Rs 50,000.
The Extortion Ramps Up
Since Satish was experiencing financial troubles in his business, he had decided to shift his family to Gujarat and required his daughter’s Transfer Certificate from school. This is when the matter took a perilous turn. In early March, Satish went to the school to pick up the certificate but was met by Rudagi, along with her co-conspirators Kale and Sagar. The trio showed him private photos and videos from their affair and threatened to release them unless Satish paid Rs 20 lakh.
Even as Satish tried to negotiate with the extortionists, they demanded money, offering to lower the figure to Rs 15 lakh. Satish paid Rs 1.9 lakh as part payment, but their demands did not stop. Rudagi, on March 17, called up Satish and dictated the total payment modalities: Rs 5 lakh for an ex-cop and Rs 1 lakh for Kale and Sagar, while the rest Rs 8 lakh was for her.
Police Intervention and Arrests
Satish could not tolerate the continued blackmail and reported the matter to the police, who moved quickly to investigate. They established that the suspected police officer was not involved in the crime, and they then arrested Sridevi Rudagi, Sagar, and Kale. The three have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days pending further investigation.
The case points towards the increasing problem of blackmail and extortion by people in positions of authority, exploiting personal relationships for financial benefits in Bengaluru. The authorities have pledged to follow up on investigations to ensure that justice is meted out.