Gang looting people through gay dating app busted in Odisha, 5 held

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The commissionerate police here on Wednesday busted a gang that allegedly looted several gullible victims after luring them through gay dating apps. Five members of the group, including four juvenile students, have been apprehended by the police in Odisha.

The accused were involved in two separate incidents of crime that occurred in 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, they 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.

The gang also used to keep obscene photos of the victims and later blackmail them threatening to make those intimate pictures public, said Girija Shankar Chakrabarty, ACP zone- II.

"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.

Sources said that the victims are reluctant to come forward fearing public embarrassment.

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.

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