Two men lure man to forest on dating app and kill him while robbing phone

NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death in South East Delhi's Aali Vihar woods here after he was first lured by one of the accused on a gay dating application for a date. Police here said they have arrested two men in the case, who purportedly told cops that they had planned to lure the victim through the dating app first and then rob him of his belongings.

Police said the victim was stabbed on Friday by two unknown men in the deep deserted woods near Sarita Vihar. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) RP Meena said they first found the deceased's mobile phone to be missing and switched off and started from there. CDR details of the mobile number were collected, which showed its last location in the area of Gautam Puri. "It was revealed that the deceased was in constant touch with one mobile number. The team traced the usage of the said mobile number who was identified as Arjun Kumar on the basis of WhatsApp and DP pic," DCP Meena said. On inquiry, Arjun Kumar told police that his phone was used by one of his friends Sumit on Friday evening.

Police later nabbed Sumit and found the deceased's phone with him. Police claimed that Sumit broke down eventually and confessed to his involvement along with one Kartik in the murder case.

"He further confessed that he came into contact with the deceased telephonically through a gay dating app namely Blued. They both planned to engage in homosexual acts with him and then rob him in the jungle," the official said. They called the victim and took him on a scooter to the isolated forests of Aali Vihar under the pretext of sex and finally to rob him. On reaching there, they asked the victim to hand over his mobile but when he resisted, the two robbed him of his mobile phone at knifepoint and stabbed him before fleeing.

Police said that on the instance of Sumit, co-accused Kartik was also arrested from Aali Vihar. On his cursory search, one country-made pistol with one live cartridge was recovered. In this regard, a separate case was registered. Significantly, police said Karthik also led them to a blood-stained knife from his home in Gautam Puri whereas Sumit told police that they had used a friend's scooty for the crime.