BENGALURU: A 26-year-old techie fell prey to a man whom he befriended through a dating app. The stranger, Rahul, who came to meet the techie, Ritesh (name changed), robbed him with his associates. An IIT graduate, the victim, a resident of an apartment complex on Hosur Road, was looking to meet like-minded people from the LGBTQ community through the app.
Ritesh told police that he chatted with Rahul on September 5 and they exchanged phone numbers. On the same day, Rahul called Ritesh and told him that he wants to meet him. So, Ritesh gave his address to Rahul. Rahul reached Ritesh’s home at 10 am. However, Rahul demanded Ritesh give him money. Ritesh rebuffed him.
Suddenly, two men barged in and kept Ritesh captive in a room. They robbed him of his wallet and phone. The miscreants found a debit card in his wallet and asked him for the PIN. When Ritesh refused, they assaulted him and threatened him. Ritesh got scared and gave them the PIN. One of the miscreants went to an ATM and withdrew money.
The man who withdrew the money, returned with two more people. The gang of five, including Rahul, started demanding more money. When Ritesh said he did not have anymore, they beat him black and blue and asked him to call his friends and arrange for money. Ritesh called six of his friends and asked them to transfer money to his account. All his friends transferred money and his balance was Rs 1.35 lakh. Two of the miscreants went to an ATM and withdrew all of it.
The gang made a video of Ritesh and made him say that he had not invited anybody to his house. They also broke his debit cards and took a photo of his company’s ID card. The gang left at around 6 pm. After that, Ritesh contacted his friends and went to jurisdictional Bandepalya police station. Ritesh’s advocate, Gaurav Singh Gaur alleged that the police didn’t file a complaint from him on the day the crime was committed.
“On September 6, Ritesh told me the incident in detail. I told him that his case amounted to dacoity and I helped him register a complaint,” Gaur said. An investigating officer said, “The miscreants used different numbers in committing the crime. We have got clues on a few members of the gang. They are from Noida and Gurugram and they have left the city after committing the crime.”