Honey-trapping incident: Gang uses Grindr to lure student, rob him of gold, cash and mobile phone

Chennai: A seven-member gang deployed Grindr, an online dating app to honeytrap a college student and rob him of 10,000, a smartphone, and a gold bracelet on Tuesday. Police arrested the gang members on Wednesday.The 20-year-old victim hailing from Winterpet in Arakkonam district had downloaded the app and accepted a friend request from an account he believed to be that of a woman. After chatting for nearly a week, they exchanged phone numbers, and the woman asked him to meet at a secluded spot in Chinnammapet. When the youngster arrived at the location, the group waylaid him. After stripping him, the gang recorded a video of the incident, blackmailed him for a sum of 5 lakh as surety for not releasing the video. The traumatised student immediately made an online transfer of 10,000 and agreed to pay the remaining sum later. After confirming the transfer of money, the gang proceeded to beat up the student, and fled with his mobile phone, gold bracelet, and smartwatch.The survivor lodged a complaint with the Thiruvalangadu police station, which traced the money transfer to a mobile phone belonging to one of the accused, Dinesh. Inquiries revealed that the gang comprised habitual offenders. Their modus operandi involved using dating apps to create fake profiles impersonating women to lure unsuspecting men. Victims would then be blackmailed into handing over valuables, said deputy superintendent of police Kandan. The gang primarily targeted college students, IT professionals, and gay men, he said.Police identified the arrested as Gautham, Karthikeyan, Vishnu, Dinesh, Raghuram, Dilli Ganesh, and Shyam. Gautham was previously involved in a murder case, and Karthikeyan is a history-sheeter. Vishnu and Shyam were arrested in a prior robbery case. The gang might have targeted nearly 30 victims in the past three years.