Man swindled 500+victims on dating app

While police did not share the total extorted amount, the charge sheet, filed this month, said that he used to mostly dupe the victims of ₹5,000 to ₹10,000.

A 23-year-old city-based tech recruiter extorted money from more than 500 women he met on social media platforms and dating applications over the last two years after blackmailing them using their personal photos and videos, the Delhi Police has alleged in its charge sheet.

Man swindled 500+victims on dating app

Police in the charge sheet said the accused, Tushar Singh Bisht, posed as an American model by using photos of a Brazilian model cum social media influencer.

While police did not share the total extorted amount, the charge sheet, filed this month, said that he used to mostly dupe the victims of ₹5,000 to ₹10,000.

Police also recovered over 400 personal photos and 68 videos of the victims from the devices he used in the crime.

His arrest came only after a case was lodged last December on the complaint of a second-year Delhi University student who alleged that Bisht was blackmailing her using her videos and had extorted ₹20,000 from her.

“At the time of the complaint, it was found the accused was operating devices using a virtual international number. The complainant said the man is a model from America who has come to India for some work. He was in possession of 10-12 photos and videos of hers which he was using to blackmail her. Initially, she paid him some amount. However, as the blackmailing continued, she confided in her parents and approached the police on December 12,” an officer aware of the details in the charge sheet said.

An investigator said that Bisht was identified in a few weeks as he had used his original ID to buy the virtual international number. He was arrested on January 3 from his house in Shakurpur. At the time, he was talking to “at least eight women” on a dating app and “five more” on a social media platform and was trying to extort them all. “He works for a Noida company as a tech recruiter and was living alone at Shakurpur. His parents had disowned him because of his lifestyle and bad habits…” reads the 200-page charge sheet.

Police said Bisht installed the dating application two years back for “amusement” but later found that this could be a “source of income”.

Bisht was using two phones for committing the alleged crimes but one of them was found “completely destroyed”. The other was sent to the Forensic Science Lab in Rohini.

During investigation, police found Bisht was allegedly conning women by using the model’s photos and would tell the women that he was in India for work.

“His chats, confession and bank transactions reveal he cheated over 500 women on the dating app. He was talking to 200 other women on social media,” the charge sheet said.

A senior police officer said that many of these women are only 18 or 19 years old. Police are now awaiting statements from other victims to file a supplementary charge sheet.