Gang that honey trapped men, extorted money from them busted; five held

The alleged accused befriended the victims through an online dating application and lured them to a house, where they drugged the man and clicked his objectionable photographs and videos with women in the gang

The Delhi Police on Tuesday said they have busted a gang of extortionists led by a 42-year-old woman, who was previously convicted in a criminal conspiracy case, and arrested her and four of her associates for allegedly extorting money from men after threatening to frame them in bogus rape cases.

The Delhi Police busted a gang which allegedly extorted money from men after threatening to frame them in bogus rape cases. (Sourced)

The alleged accused befriended the victims through an online dating application and lured them to a house, where they drugged the man and clicked his objectionable photographs and videos with women in the gang. Police said the gang hatched elaborate plays to hoodwink victims and each gang member had specific roles.

“We have recovered some police file covers, extorted money and other articles from the arrested persons. The gang members have confessed to extorting valuables from nearly 40 men in the past couple of years. We have recovered a diary containing details of 34 victims and their self written statement admitting guilt and a signed compromise agreement. All of them will be contacted during the probe,” said an investigator, who asked not to be named.

On October 23, a businessman dealing in timbers in Dabri filed a complaint alleging that around a month ago, he received a call from a woman named Pooja, who wanted to purchase a ply board. On October 21, he was in Janakpuri area when the woman called him on WhatsApp and met him after five minutes.

“She lured him to a house and gave a glass of water to drink. He fell unconscious after that and when he came to, the businessman found himself on a bed naked. Six women and three men present there assaulted him and robbed him of ₹15,700, his wristwatch and gold ring. They threatened to kill him if he did not pay them ₹7 lakh,” said deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Shankar Choudhary, adding that a case of extortion and threat was registered on the man’s complaint.

During investigation, the police collected information about the gang and learnt that the crime was masterminded by Shivani alias Sonu Suri, who was convicted in a criminal conspiracy casein which she had used a woman to file a bogus rape case against a man. Suri was seven years’ imprisonment and she came out of jail after staying there for 19 months.

The police arrested Suri and her four associates, identified as Revti Devi (33) and her husband Vaibhav (37), both residents of Jeewan Park, Sheetal Arora alias Pooja (40), a resident of Burari and Harbinder Singh (60), a resident of Tagore Garden.

Suri’s interrogation, the DCP said, revealed that she used to get mobile numbers of targets using an online dating application. She used to provide their mobile numbers to Arora, who then invited the targeted person to the residence of Revti.

“One of the gang members would have intercourse with the victim while others entered the house to threaten him and extort money. Singh played the role of a judge or legal consultant while Suri played the role of an NGO member. The other accused played the role of neighbours and family members of the woman who was with the victim. They extorted money from the victim on the pretext of filing a false rape charge,” said Choudhary.