Bhubaneswar: Odisha police on Wednesday busted a five-member gang that allegedly looted several people after luring them using gay dating apps.
The accused, including four juvenile students, have been apprehended by the police for being involved in two separate incidents of crime that occurred in the Shree Lingaraj police station area on October 5 and October 9.
"We found during the investigation that A. Manoj Dora (19) along with the juveniles had formed a gang. They used to establish contact with different persons from in and outside Bhubaneswar through 'gay dating' apps. They later meet the victims at an asbestos house near the Garage Square area where they beat them to extract a handsome amount," the police said.
"The accused recently asked a victim to meet them at Garage Square on October 9. Dora and his aides took the victim to a particular house near Garage Square where they beat him black and blue. They later forcefully transferred Rs 1 lakh from his bank account through the PhonePe app and withdrew Rs 50,000 from his account from a nearby ATM kiosk," they said.
According to police, the group had looted Rs 56,000 from another complainant following a similar modus operandi. They asked the victim to meet them at Mausi Maa Square on October 5.
Girija Shankar Chakrabarty, ACP zone- II, said that the gang also used to keep obscene photos of the victims and later blackmail them threatening to make those intimate pictures public.
“We have so far found the gang’s involvement in four such cases. We are trying to contact the victims in these cases. All the accused persons are students. We can’t disclose further details in this regard at this stage of the investigation,” added Chakrabarty.
The cops have seized several mobile phones and motorcycles of the accused persons for further probe.
The police with the help of a cyber cell also managed to block Rs 85,137 deposited in one of the accused person’s bank account.
Dora was produced before the JMFC court while the juveniles were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, Bhubaneswar.