Man arrested for stalking women through online dating sites in Pune
PUNE: A 28-year-old man was arrested by the Pune police crime branch for threatening and trying to dupe women by approaching them through online dating sites.
The man was identified as Sandeep Jagannath Dharmak of Thergaon in Pimpri, Pune, according to a statement issued by Unit 2 of crime branch.
The police were investigating two cases of online stalking and harassment against him. However, after the arrest, he has allegedly confessed to have tried duping at least 10 women.
“There were two previous cases on record and two new cases. However, he confessed to duping 10-12 women. Not all of them have registered complaints. Only one of them had paid him Rs 3,000, but the others blocked him, he said,” said senior inspector Mahendra Jagtap of Unit 2.
Dharmak has studied till Class 12 and works at a mobile repair shop, according to the police. He told the women he met online that he worked as a manager at a massage parlour and initiated conversation with them.
He used pictures of foreigner men and used names such as Nirman and Ryan. Once he had garnered the women’s trust, he would ask for their pictures and leveraged the chats and pictures to ask for money, according to the police.
A case under Sections 354(d) (stalking), 507, 509 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67 of Information Technology Act is registered against him at Bharati Vidyapeeth police station. Another case under similar sections of IPC and IT Act is registered at Vimantal police station. There is also a similar case registered against him at the cyber police station in 2020 and another registered at Lashkar police station in 2015.
He will be produced in court on Friday and remanded to further custody.
