Coimbatore: A 30-year old man was arrested Wednesday here on the charge of befriending and blackmailing several women on the social media by posing as famous Bollywood singer Armaan Malik, police said. Mahendra Varman, hailing from Ulundurpet in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, had established friendship with several women on Facebook and WhatApp in the name of Malik.

He managed to receive obscene photographs from some of the women and threatened that he would post them on social media if they did not give money. He had allegedly collected lakhs of rupees over a period of time, police said.

Based on complaint from a woman here, the District Crime Branch police laid a trap and made him to come to a certain place to receive the money. He was arrested while talking with the woman, police added. PTI