Thane: Gang Seven, including three women from Thane, who was involved in ‘sextital’ men who were looking for a friend of a woman using a popular dating application and social networking sites had been penetrated, officials informed on Saturday.
Jayant Bajbale, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Division Wagle, Thane, explained the mode of gang operandi where women used to be friends with unsuspecting men on social networking sites and sharing intimate images.
Then, they used to captivate people to meet in certain locations where they used to get intimate.
Midway some male partners were used to fend off posing as a relative of the woman and squeezed poor victims with the threat of registering cases of fake rape.
The racket was broken after one of the victims – a businessman based in Mumbai, who was captivated into a room at the Nagar Drawing room in Thane recently and was attacked by a gang before seizing his ornaments and cash – approaching the Srinagar police who put the trap and arrested all the defendants .
“The woman lured the victim to a room to have sexual intercourse while some of his gang members, who disguised themselves as a relative of the girl, broke through the action and began to threaten the man.
The complainant said the gang member attacked him and also threatened to expose his actions in the community and extort money And the ornaments to raise this problem, “said Bajbale.
The police said the gang might operate for some time and extort several people in the past.
“Our initial probe revealed the defendant was known to each other and Mumbai-based kingpin and operated the garage.
We have confiscated some valuables including ornaments, gadgets, and even vehicles that seem to be purchased from the money squeezed,” said Bajbale.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zona-V, Vinay Rathod, said such cases of online fraudsters have increased lately but added that very few victims mobilized the courage to report the fear of bold social stigma.
“Many victims did not consciously fall for the trap and were forced to submit to the demands of the perpetrators.
We appeal to the victims to report this problem to the police immediately,” he said.
Cyber ​​experts say it is important to be careful when interacting with strangers and sharing images.
“Trends of online honey traps have increased.
Someone should never respond to video calls from unknown numbers and preferably cover the front cellular camera.
Those who fall prey should never submit to demands and immediately report this problem,” said Dr.
Prashant Mali, said Cyber-Crime lawyer.
Meanwhile, seven defendants have been sent to detention and the police reaches the target of the past from the gang.