Gang robbing gay men busted, four arrested

The victim, who made a plan to meet the four people in a hotel after talking to one of them through a gay dating app, told the police that when he reached the hotel room, the four men in the room started asking for money, threatening that they would expose his sexual orientation in public. When he refused to give money, they thrashed him and forcefully made him transfer money from his bank account. They started asking for more money but when he refused, they took his mobile phone and fled the scene.

LUCKNOW: With the arrest of four men (originally from Bihar’s capital Patna), the Lucknow police claimed to have busted a gang robbing gay men in the state capital on the pretext of giving them sexual pleasures or body massages.

Those arrested included Roshan Pathak, 28, Shubham Raj, 25, Md Firdaus, 30 and Md Faizal, 28, all from different police station areas of Patna, who were living in a rented accommodation in Lucknow, said police. (Pic for representation)

Those arrested included Roshan Pathak, 28, Shubham Raj, 25, Md Firdaus, 30 and Md Faizal, 28, all from different police station areas of Patna, who were living in a rented accommodation here, said police.

The gang came under police radar after a victim, who is a gay and a resident of Indira Nagar, registered a complaint at Vibhuti Khand police station about some men thrashing him and looting ₹80,000 and his phone in a hotel in Vibhuti Khand . An FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 384 (extortion). However, after the arrest of the four, sections 392 (robbery) and 411 (dishonesty) were added.

“The incident took place on November 29 when the victim made a plan to meet four people in a hotel after talking to one of them through a gay dating app,” said Syed Ali Abbas, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), Lucknow East.

“The victim told the police that when he reached the hotel room, the four men in the room started asking for money, threatening that they would expose his sexual orientation in public. When he refused to give money, they thrashed him and forcefully made him transfer money from his bank account. They started asking for more money but when he refused, they took his mobile phone and fled the scene,” the ADCP added.

According to police, the men would commit these crimes through the internet and target different people in the city on the dating app in the name of physical pleasures. “During interrogation, they also revealed that they would woo the homosexual people by offering them body massage,” said Anil Kumar, SHO, Vibhuti Khand. “Their names have also been registered in another robbery case with Naka police,” he added.

As per the FIR registered with Naka poolice in May, the accused Shubham Raj had targeted a man working as a coordinator for IGNOU at JNPG college by calling him in a hotel room in Charbagh. When he reached there, he found the other three men who threatened him and took his ATM card and credit card and their pins. “The men withdrew ₹38,000 from the ATM and brought gold jewellery worth 4,58,150 using credit card. They threatened to kill me if I opened my mouth,” the victim had said in his FIR. The case was registered under IPC sections 392, 411 and 506.

"Police were able to reach the accused with the bank details and the numbers and they were arrested on Monday morning near Gomti nagar railway station. An amount of ₹35,000 cash and mobile phone of the victim has been recovered. Other such crimes committed by them in other areas of the city or state are being looked into,” said the ADCP.