A 33-year-old son of a retired ACP, Milind Vasant Shete weaved an elaborate web of deceit juggling between playing the roles of a girl, a blackmailer, and a victim

A 33-year-old son of a retired assistant commissioner of police may well be one of the most devious criminals in the city. Milind Vasant Shete weaved an elaborate web of deceit juggling between playing the roles of a girl, a blackmailer, and a victim to trick a 14-year-old boy into allowing himself to be sodomised repeatedly between March and July.

The Samta Nagar police, who arrested Shete on Sunday, believe that the 33-year-old who used the name ‘Sweetie Pie’ to create a fake profile that started it all may have sodomised several young boys in the past as well.

The girl

Officials said that Shete, who is the son of former Mumbai Assistant Commissioner of Police Vasant Shete and a resident of Thakur Sankul police colony in Kandivli, posed as a girl and created a fake profile on Facebook under the name of ‘Sweetie Pie’ in January.

He then sent a friend request to the boy and began having sex chats with him within two days of their ‘friendship’. Shete then sent the boy naked photos of a girl, claiming it was Sweetie Pie’s, and tricked the boy into sending him his nude photos in exchange.

The blackmailer

In March, the boy got a call from an unknown number. Shete, posing as a blackmailer, told the boy that he had his naked photos and the boy would have to do something for him to get them back.

Without revealing his name, the blackmailer told the boy that he would have to go to the Thakur Sankul colony, meet one Milind Shete, have sex with him, and send him a video of the act.

The victim

When the boy visited Shete’s place, the 33-year-old told him that he had also befriended Sweetie Pie on Facebook and was being blackmailed by someone who had his nude photos. “Shete told the boy that the best thing for them to do would be to accede to the blackmailer’s demand of having sex and sending him the video,” said an official from the Samta Nagar police.

Arrest

The ‘blackmailer’ then called the boy again a few days later. He asked him to go meet Shete again and repeat the act. This went on until a few days back, when the boy’s mother got suspicious and read his chats. She quizzed the boy, who broke down and told her everything. She filed a complaint with the Samta Nagar police station on Saturday.

On Sunday, Samta Nagar police arrested Shete from his residence and recovered photos of the boy. They suspect that he may have used the same modus operandi to sodomise other minor boys as well. Shete’s computer and mobile phone have been seized.