Freedom 251 smartphone maker among 3 held for 'extortion'

Mohit Goel, founder of Ringing Bells—the company that offered the world's cheapest smartphone Freedom 251, and two others were arrested by the Delhi police on Sunday for allegedly trying to extort money in lieu of settling a rape case.

Goel, his aide and a woman conspired to extort money from the complainants after implicating them in a gang-rape case in Rajasthan's Alwar.

Earlier, the woman, involved in the conspiracy, had filed a complaint that she was gang-raped by five people in a hotel in Alwar. During the course of the investigation, it was found that the woman had been threatening the complainant and asking him for money.

Later, the police laid a trap to arrest the accused when they came to take the extortion amount.

"My relatives were being honey-trapped. First, the accused asked for Rs 11 core and then they settled the matter for Rs 2.5 crore. They took Rs 1.15 crore earlier and today, they came to take Rs 30 lakh when they were arrested," said a family member of a complainant.