MEERUT: In the end, it wasnt hardened criminals who had ferreted out sensitive information that were blackmailing an Army Major posted in Galwan Valley earlier but a sulking father-in-law upset with his Brahmin daughter marrying an OBC man against the wishes of the family.It began when the Major, posted in Meerut Cantonment currently, registered a complaint at the Civil Lines police station on August 19 against "unknown extortionists" for blackmailing him for the past year and demanding Rs 20 lakh, failing which they threatened not only to file an official complaint with the Army HQs regarding an alleged "misconduct" but also upload on social media "classified information of the officer who has a sensitive service profile being in the combat wing".Civil Lines circle officer Arvind Kumar Chaurasia said on Monday, "The complaint was forwarded to the cyber cell and much to the officers surprise three of the four culprits turned out to be his wifes relatives. And his father-in-law was the kingpin. After the identification, the Civil Lines police station registered an FIR on Friday in which all four men were booked under IPC sections 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 504 (provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act."Requesting anonymity, the 33-year-old Major said, "I originally belong to Mahendragarh district of Haryana and through a common friend met my soulmate in 2015 who belongs to Una district of Himachal Pradesh. Her parents never approved of our relationship owing to caste and ideological differences. We got married in 2020. When the police revealed the contact details of the accused, I was shocked. It wasnt too difficult for the accused to access the confidential details of my service."The "gang of four" became active after the Major got his fathers cancer surgery done in the Army Hospital in Delhi showing him as a "dependent" though he was a pensioner and hence couldnt be categorised as such.The Major told TOI, "It all happened out of ignorance. My father retired from Gujarat government service but did not have any post-retirement government-sponsored health insurance cover though he was a pensioner. It was a natural instinct on my part to count him as a dependent and also get the dependent card from my unit on the basis of which the surgery was conducted. But the intention of the accused was to only pressure me into submission."As per the FIR accessed by TOI, four men including the Majors father-in-law, brother-in-law and his wifes cousin gained unauthorised access to "confidential personal military information, specifically an Army dossier".The Major said, "Im certainly hurt to see to what extent they went to seek revenge. But its a huge relief that the truth has been unearthed."

Stay updated with all the Meerut Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.