Srinagar, Jan. 13: Jammu and Kashmir police have taken the lid off a sex scandal involving a senior government official who allegedly sexually exploited girls and took their nude pictures to blackmail them later.

Amjad Hussain Malik, 39, an agriculture extension officer in Kishtwar district of Jammu, has been arrested.

The police said Malik lured single as well as married women into a love trap. At times, he also promised them jobs in government departments.

“He would sexually exploit them and in order to sustain such relations, he would take their nude pictures or videograph the girls in compromising positions,” a police officer said.

“We believe he has exploited several girls over the past 10 years. We have collected solid evidence in some cases. The investigations are on,” the officer added.

Station house officer of Kishtwar Ifthikhar Chowdhary said a police team raided a bus stand after specific inputs and caught the government official “red-handed with some photographs”.

“We were closely watching him and we have found obscene photographs and some CDs of his victims. He would threaten victims that he would show the pictures to their relatives.”

“The investigations revealed that a married woman was also his victim and most of them were illiterate. He would extract hefty sums from some victims who were apparently well-off,” the officer added.

Police sources said they are carefully handling the case to prevent the identity of the victims from becoming public.

The police have informed the district administration of the matter. Sources said the official would be suspended as a first step.

Last month, a government schoolteacher was accused of driving a woman around half his age to suicide after sexually exploiting her for nine years.