Bhopal: A high-profile extortion racket that “used to blackmail” politicians and babus by “honeytrapping” them was busted by police here on Thursday.

Six people, including five women were arrested in this connection, senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Indore Richa Vardhan Mishra who led a team of police men to conduct raids in the ‘dens’ of the members of the alleged racket here, told reporters.

“We have seized video clips, mobile phones, and a laptop from their possession.

The accused were blackmailing their victims by threatening them to make the videos involving them viral if they not paid money demanded by them”, she said.

Two of the five arrested women were found to be members of the Congress and the BJP, police said.

Incidentally, a woman member of the racket was arrested from a house belonging to former minister and sitting BJP MLA Brijendra Pratap Singh here.

Mr Singh however said he had rented his house to the woman through a broker and he had nothing to do with the racket.

All the accused were arrested in houses in posh colonies here.

According to the police officer, the raids were conducted following a complaint lodged by an engineer of Indore Municipal Corporation who alleged that he was being blackmailed by a woman with the threat of making a video involving him viral if he did not pay her Rs 3 crore.

Incidentally, a purported video showing an additional chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh in a compromising position had gone viral a fortnight ago leading the police begin a probe into it.

Police was probing hand of the racket in it.

“Video clippings seized from the gang members suggested that some senior politicians and bureaucrats had fallen into their trap and crores of rupees were extorted from them”, a senior police officer probing the case disclosed to this newspaper.

Incidentally, husband of a member in the racket was state vice-president of IT cell of MP Congress and expelled from the party in June this year, while another woman member in the gang was a local Congress leader.

State home minister Bala Bachhan indicated that “big names”, honey trapped by the gang members, were expected to surface after investigation.

Police was also probing if the gang had any link with terrorist fundings.