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Three of gang that honey-trapped shop owners arrested
Gurugram: Three people, including two women, were arrested from Udyog Vihar on Saturday for allegedly honey trapping several businessmen and grocery shop owners
Gurugram: Three people, including two women, were arrested from Udyog Vihar on Saturday for allegedly honey trapping several businessmen and grocery shop owners in the city, the police said.
With the arrests, the police busted a gang with at least three more members who allegedly targeted businessmen and extorted lakhs of rupees by threatening to implicate them in false cases of sexual assault.
The police said that they are history sheeters and were arrested earlier too for similar cases, and were out on bail.
The suspects were identified as Bithiya alias Riya and Mahima alias Mahi of Delhi, and Puranmal alias Bhagte of Gurugram.
The police said that the two women -- Riya and Mahima -- often visited shops, hotels and grocery stores and exchange mobile phone numbers with them.
Riya was the kingpin of the gang, which would “trap” shopkeepers in Gurugram and Delhi, the police said, adding that the gang would use different techniques to extort their victims and had been doing so for the past three years.
Muhammad Akil, commissioner of police, said the gang had extorted more than ₹50 lakh from several men, including the most recent victim — a 35-year-old shop owner from whom they extorted nearly ₹50,000. They had originally demanded ₹25 lakh from him, but ran out of luck when the kingpin was arrested.
“We received a complaint from the businessman, who runs a photo studio, on March 20, and formed a team headed by the station house officer, which laid a trap. Within a day, enough evidence was collected and the two women were caught red-handed while receiving the money in Udyog Vihar on Friday, and the man was arrested on Saturday.
Gang’s modus operandi
The women told the police that they would often visit local markets where they introduced themselves to men as homemakers. “Once the women were confident that the victims trusted them, they would invite them for lunch and dinner at their rented room in Khandsa near Sector 9. These suspects would impress them by organising parties for them at home,” said Akil.
According to the police, after spending ample time with the men and gaining their trust, which often took almost two months, the women would invite them to their rented apartment for drinks, “honey trap” them and make “objectionable videos” to extort them.
The women would message them on WhatsApp and demand several lakhs of rupees by blackmailing them with clips of their intimate moments, the police said.
“These women would allegedly threaten the men that they would file cases of sexual assault against them if they did not pay them the money they asked for. The victims would pay them what they demanded out of fear of their identities being exposed, no one would approach the police,” said Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime).
A case under sections 384 (extortion) , 387 (putting a person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation ), and 120B (conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code was registered at Udyog Vihar police station on Friday night.
How the trap was laid
According to the police, the victim met Riya in his studio in Sector 10 and exchanged mobile phone numbers with her. They met several times, in hotels as well as at their respective apartments, and the businessman told the police that he paid some cash each time. Since the beginning of March this year, Riya kept insisting that he meet her, but due to his hectic schedule, he was unable to and finally met on March 16.
Sangwan said the suspect met the victim at a bus stand and then took him to her house and offered a drink laced with sedatives there after which he was rendered unconscious. The suspect allegedly removed his clothes and shot a video of him with her. When he gained consciousness, more than five gang members surrounded him and demanded money.
On March 20, the victim called woman and agreed to pay her ₹50,000 in Udyog Vihar and asked her to meet him on Friday evening. “As soon as the woman took the money, a police team caught her and recovered the money from her possession,” said Sangwan, adding that the notes had been marked and their serial numbers had already been shared with the police.
