Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
‘Raj’ wasn’t the charming lover immortalised in Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s blockbuster films. In Gujarat’s Surat, the name was used as bait by a gang that lured men through a gay dating app before assaulting and robbing them.
Surat Police have arrested two men and detained a juvenile for operating a robbery racket that targeted users of a gay dating app.
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According to investigators, the accused created a fake profile under the name “Raj” on the “POLO Gay Dating & Chat” app, befriended unsuspecting men and invited them to secluded locations before attacking and robbing them.
Police said the gang trapped at least three men in just 15 days.
The latest case came to light after a fruit vendor approached police.
He told investigators that after downloading the dating app, he began chatting with a user identifying himself as “Raj.”
As their conversations progressed, “Raj” invited him to meet at an under-construction building on June 28.
When the man reached the spot, he was allegedly taken inside the deserted building where two other men were waiting.
The trio thenassaulted him, snatched his mobile phone and cash, and forced him to transfer Rs 1,000 via Google Pay before threatening him and fleeing.
Police said the man initially chose not to file a complaint out of fear and social stigma. He later approached the police after being encouraged by his family.
Using technical surveillance, mobile phone location data, CCTV footage and human intelligence, the police tracked down the accused within hours.
Those arrested have been identified as Sushant and Somraj Gameti. The juvenile has not been named.
Investigators recovered the complainant’s stolen mobile phone, cash and two additional mobile phones from the accused.
During questioning, the accused admitted to carrying out two similar robberies at the same under-construction building, targeting other men they had lured through the app.
Police are now probing whether more victims were targeted.
The case comes over a month after a similar incident in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district, where a 44-year-old man was lured through the same dating app, beaten, stripped and extorted of Rs 31,000 by a seven-member gang that threatened to release his nude photographs and videos online.
According to police, the accused in that case also used the app to lure the victim to an isolated location before carrying out the assault and extortion.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
