Valsad, Aug 16 (IANS) Three men were arrested within hours of an alleged robbery in Vapi taluka of Gujarat’s Valsad district after police traced a group accused of luring a man to an isolated location through a dating application, assaulting him and fleeing with Rs 14,000, police said on Sunday.
According to Dungra police, the incident took place on the evening of August 12.
The 22-year-old complainant had established contact with an unknown person through an app and was subsequently called to a location near Bharat Petrol Pump in Karwad.
Police said three men then took him to a dark and isolated spot, assaulted him as well as threatened to kill him while displaying a knife.
They allegedly forcibly took Rs 14,000 from him before fleeing. Dungra police registered a case under Sections 309(4), 309(6), 351(3) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Police said the investigation was conducted under the supervision of Police Inspector B.N. Gohil, with separate teams examining CCTV footage from the incident site and surrounding areas and carrying out technical analysis to identify the suspects.
The accused were identified as Shahbaz, 19, a resident of Karwad and originally from Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh; Zaheer Khan, 20, a labourer residing in Karwad and originally from Balrampur district in Uttar Pradesh; and Jawahar Yadav, 19, a student residing in Karwad and originally from Siddharthnagar district.
Police said the entire Rs 14,000 allegedly taken from the complainant was recovered.
The dating app is a geolocation-based social networking app for LGBTQ+ adults, particularly gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
Launched in 2009, it allows users to discover nearby profiles, chat and share photos, videos and voice messages.
The platform is available to adults aged 18 and above and includes features such as blocking and reporting to support user safety and privacy.
Recent cases in several parts of India have highlighted the use of dating applications to lure victims to secluded locations for robbery or extortion.
In May, Bengaluru Police arrested four men after a 27-year-old engineer was allegedly attacked and robbed following contact with a person on the dating app.
In March, police in Noida arrested three men accused of allegedly kidnapping and robbing people after luring them through the application, while a similar racket was reported in Lucknow.
“The latest operation was carried out by PI B.N. Gohil, PSI K.R. Chotaliya, ASIs Bharatbhai Bhavanbhai and Kuldeepsinh Kanubha, PCs Kiransinh Prabhatsinh and Mahendrasinh Khansinh, along with other members of the Dungra Police team,” officials noted.
–IANS
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