A 30-year-old man Mahendra Varman from Ulundurpet in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu has been arrested for allegedly posing as singer Armaan Malik and extracting money from women, using their private pictures. According to a report in a leading daily, the man created a fake Facebook profile and established friendship with several women on Facebook and WhatsApp in the name of Malik. He then, harassed and blackmailed the women, using their nude pictures and extorted money. Inspired by Justin Bieber’s Candid Confession on Mental Health, Bollywood Singer Armaan Malik Opens up about Battling a Lot of Internal Issues

However, with the help of a female victim from Coimbatore, who reported the man’s crimes, the police caught the fraudster red-handed. Reportedly, the victim had set up a meeting with the impostor on the pretext of handing him the (blackmail) money as advised by The District Crime Branch (DCB). The accused's mobile phone and tablet is now in police custody for evidence.

Talking about the incident, The Hindu quoted a police official as saying, "The accused created a fake Facebook profile of Armaan Malik by downloading the singer’s pictures from his original Facebook and Twitter accounts. He sent friend requests to several women which many of them accepted. The accused gained the trust of some of them and made them share their nude pictures via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. He later used those pictures to blackmail them."

On learning this shocking cyber crime, Armaan took to the micro blogging site to tweet, "I am really shocked to read all these news articles... urgent request to all my fans - please don’t believe anyone pretending to be me on social media, don’t fall prey to such dirty tricks!! 🙏🏻"

Check Out Armaan's Tweet Here:

On the career front, Armaan, who is known for popular tracks like 'Wajah Tum Ho' and 'Sab Tera', lent his voice to the titular character in Aladdin. Yes, the singer has voiced the central character in Disney's popular live-action adaptation of Aladdin. He also sung a song in the film, headlined by Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott and Will Smith. Watch this space for further updates.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 30, 2019 09:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).