A sordid tale of extortion and betrayal has rocked Bengaluru, with the Central Crime Branch (CCB) arresting 25-year-old pre-school principal Sridevi Rudagi and her accomplices, Ganesh Kale, 38, and Sagar, 28, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

The trio allegedly milked Rs 4 lakh from Satish (name changed), a trader and father of a five-year-old student, after Rudagi’s affair with him spiraled into a blackmail scheme wielding private photos and videos.

Satish, a family man from western Bengaluru, first met Rudagi in 2023 during his daughter’s school admission. What began as casual messages on a secret SIM soon turned intimate. Rudagi exploited their encounters, extorting Rs 4 lakh before upping the ante in January 2025 with a Rs 15 lakh demand.

As Satish’s business faltered, he planned to relocate to Gujarat, needing his child’s transfer certificate. That’s when the trap snapped shut. On March 12, at the school, Kale and Sagar ambushed him with compromising footage, demanding Rs 20 lakh. After haggling, Satish paid Rs 1.9 lakh, but the harassment persisted.

On March 17, Rudagi called, divvying up the payout: Rs 5 lakh for a supposed ex-cop, Rs 1 lakh each for her cronies, and Rs 8 lakh for herself. Cornered, Satish alerted the police. The CCB swooped in, debunking the cop’s involvement and nabbing the trio.

Now in judicial custody for 14 days, they face a reckoning as Bengaluru grapples with this chilling breach of trust.