COIMBATORE: A four-member gang was arrested for running a honey trap using the dating app Grindr and extorting money from victims in Coimbatore. The incident happened on October 1, when they robbed Rs 99,000 from a 36-year-old man from Coimbatore city after inviting him for a meeting.
The suspects have been identified as K Kaviyarsan (22), from Kattukudi Pudur in Sivagangai district, R Vinoth Kumar (32) of Kosavakottai, M Muthukumar (23) of Aathur in Ramanathapuram district and R Mugeshkumar (20) of Devakottai, Sivagangai district.
Police said the complainant from Vadavalli had got acquainted with one of the accused through Grindr, a dating application. The suspect Kaviyarasan had created a profile in the app, chatted with the complainant and invited him to a house in VNR Nagar near Vadavalli. Believing him, the complainant went to the said house on Thursday evening.
When he reached there, he found four other persons already waiting inside the house. The gang assaulted him and threatened him with dire consequences. They then demanded cash and took away his mobile phone. They forced him to unlock the phone and transferred a total of Rs 99,000 through G-Pay to their account and then chased him away from the house. The victim lodged a complaint with the police.
Police investigation revealed that the gang had lured and robbed six more victims by inviting them through the dating app. They were targeting people who were active on dating apps, inviting them and then assaulting and robbing them.
All four accused have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.