Delhi Police bust dating app robbery gang; five nabbed for abducting, extorting victim

NEw delhi: A Delhi man was allegedly choked until he lost consciousness after being lured, abducted and robbed by five individuals through a dating application in southeast Delhi’s Kalkaji area. A 20-year-old woman and her four associates have been arrested in connection with the case, police said.

The incident came to light on March 25, when the complainant, Anurup Narula, reported that he had been contacted on a dating app by a woman using the profile name ‘Sherry’. She allegedly persuaded him to meet her at Nehru Place.

According to police, when Narula reached the location, he was confronted and assaulted by three male associates of the woman, who then forced him into a white Hyundai Aura car. He was allegedly choked until he lost consciousness and repeatedly threatened during the ordeal.

Police said the accused coerced the victim into transferring around Rs 7 lakh through multiple channels, including UPI transactions, ATM withdrawals and credit card payments. After the money was transferred, he was abandoned at Nehru Place and warned against approaching the police.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Kalkaji Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A special team was formed under the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) to investigate the case. The team, led by Inspector R.S. Dagar under the supervision of ACP Operations Rattan Lal, analysed CCTV footage, which helped identify one of the vehicles used in the crime.

Investigators also traced suspicious financial transactions and linked them to a phone number.

Further technical analysis, including call detail records, open-source intelligence inputs, automatic number plate recognition systems and FASTag data, led to the identification of a second vehicle and the accused.

Multiple raids were conducted at different locations, resulting in the arrest of Rishabh (25) along with one of the vehicles. His associates — Nabojit Dey (30), Sanjay alias Joey (28), and Harleen Kaur alias Jenny (20) — were apprehended from Malviya Nagar, while another accused, Sahil Chauhan, was also arrested.

During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed that Harleen Kaur used dating applications to lure victims to pre-decided locations, where her accomplices would rob them.

Police said two Hyundai Aura cars and five mobile phones have been recovered, and the financial trail of the robbed money has been tracked through bank accounts linked to the accused. None of the arrested individuals was found to have any previous criminal record.

Further investigation is underway.