Faridabad police on Monday arrested three members of a gang, who allegedly blackmailed at least 25 men after befriending them on Grindr – a social networking app for gay, bisexual and transgender people-- by recording their objectionable videos and extorted money from them, said police on Tuesday.
The suspects have been identified as Vishal Kumar (22), Karan Singh (19) and Puneet alias Pony (23), all residents of Gandhi Colony in Faridabad. Nitesh Aggarwal, deputy commissioner of Police, NIT, said there were five members in the gang and the mastermind, Rakesh alias Bidi, and his associate Jaibir alias Vicky Chandela, were yet to be traced.
Aggarwal said the suspects targeted people in a way that they were hesitant to approach police. “They created fake accounts on Grindr to connect with victims,” he said.
The modus operandi of the gang was to connect with the victims, call them to any hotel or an isolated stretch after exchanging a few calls and messages and capture intimate pictures. Soon after, the other gang members would barge into the rooms or reach the spot, take the victims at gunpoint and rob them of their belongings, said police
Sethi Malik, the inspector who arrested the suspects, said the incident came to light on May 22 after a resident of NIT complained that the gang members extorted ₹2.90 lakh from him. “The suspects created a fake profile on the app and befriended the victim. After chatting and talking for a few days, they asked him to meet on May 11. One of the suspects took him to a room and gave a signal to his aides, who recorded them in a compromising position and later barged into the room. They held the victim at gunpoint and threatened to upload pictures on social networking sites. They also threatened to send the videos to his family, friends and relatives,” said Malik.
{{/usCountry}}Sethi Malik, the inspector who arrested the suspects, said the incident came to light on May 22 after a resident of NIT complained that the gang members extorted ₹2.90 lakh from him. “The suspects created a fake profile on the app and befriended the victim. After chatting and talking for a few days, they asked him to meet on May 11. One of the suspects took him to a room and gave a signal to his aides, who recorded them in a compromising position and later barged into the room. They held the victim at gunpoint and threatened to upload pictures on social networking sites. They also threatened to send the videos to his family, friends and relatives,” said Malik.
{{/usCountry}}The inspector said the suspects snatched ₹20,000 from the victim and also took his debit and credit cards. “They had withdrawn ₹1 lakh from an ATM and swiped his credit card at a petrol pump for a transaction of ₹1.75 lakh as an advance payment for petrol. They threatened the victim that if he informed the police or tried to expose them, they will circulate and share his nude pictures online,” said Malik.
The victim did not report about the incident for fear of his pictures getting leaked online. However, the suspects kept calling him and demanded more money, following which he approached police and a case was registered at SGM Nagar police station on May 22.
Police said they set the mobile numbers of the suspects on surveillance and traced their locations and arrested them from Gandhi Colony in Faridabad.
Aggarwal said the gang members were active for the last one year and had robbed at least 25 men. “The victims, fearing social stigma, are not ready to take legal action against the suspects and have refused to come forward and record their statements. We have written to Grindr to get more details of the suspects and their accounts. The gang mostly targeted people in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, and Ghaziabad,” he said.
Police said the suspects were produced before a court and remanded in police custody for four days. “They had robbed four businessmen in Faridabad in the last 10 days,” said Malik.
When approached, a spokesperson of Grindr said, “Grindr takes the privacy and safety of our users extremely seriously. Grindr publishes a holistic security guide and safety tips available on the app and Grindr’s public website, and we encourage users to be careful when interacting with people they do not know. We encourage our users to report improper or illegal behaviour either within the app or directly via email to help@grindr.com, to report criminal allegations to local authorities. In these cases, we work with law enforcement as appropriate.”
In December 2020, four members of a gang were arrested for allegedly blackmailing and extorting at least 50 chief executive officers (CEOs) of companies based in the National Capital Region (NCR), who were among 150 people who fell victim over three months to racketeers who befriended them on Grindr.
Members of the racket allegedly kept in touch with their targets through the app and after befriending them, arranged dates on isolated stretches of the Western Peripheral expressway and Southern Peripheral Road. In most cases, the victims were beaten up in their cars by the gang members, photographed in compromising positions and robbed of their belongings, said police.
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