BENGALURU: In another honey trap case in the city, a businessman lost his cash and valuables to a gang that claimed to provide escort services. While the police have managed to arrest three members of the gang, one is still at large.
The victim is identified Eshwaramurthy, a resident of Akash Nagar. In his complaint he alleged that 15 days ago, he got a call from a woman who introduced herself as Jacklin Mary. She told him that she could provide ‘good looking’ girls. After getting further details from Mary, Eshwaramurthy went to her house in New Byappanahalli. Mary collected Rs 3,000 from him and directed him to a room with a girl.
On September 12, at 9 am Mary called Eshwaramurthy to tell him that there were ‘new girls’ in her house and to pay a visit. Eshwaramurthy went to her house at around 2 pm the same day. On reaching, Mary’s husband, Vinay and their associate Arun entered the house and got into an argument with Eshwaramurthy. They reprimanded him for seeking escort services in a decent house. When Eshwaramurthy told him that Mary offered him the service, they locked him in the house and assaulted him.
They robbed him of `4,000 cash, his debit and credit cards, and his mobile phone. They forced him to reveal his phone’s password and UPI pin and transferred `5,000 from his Google Pay account. A gang member went to a nearby ATM kiosk and withdrew `20,000 from his account. On returning, they demanded `20,000 more. They told him that they had a video of him with the escort, and threatened to leak it to his family members if he didn’t oblige.
When Eshwaramurthy refused to give more money, the gang assaulted him with a wooden log, leaving him seriously injured. Eshwaramurthy managed to get out of the situation after promising to give them the money. After getting treated for his injuries, he approached the police on Saturday evening.
An investigating officer said, “We found that Eshwaramurthy’s friend, Veda, asked Mary to get in touch with him and offer the escort service, as he has a lot of money. We have arrested Veda, Vinay and Arun. Mary is still at large.”
Beware of such services
According to city police, there are thousands of phone numbers posted online which offer escort services. Most of these numbers are fake. They take advantage of people who want to meet women, call them to some place and rob them of their valuables without providing any service. In only a few cases is the service really provided. Any person who gets a call from a stranger offering escorts service or massages should ignore the same. They should immediately go to the nearest police station and report about it.