Blackmailing youth via LGBTQ dating App: 3 held

Kolkata: Three persons were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly extorting a youth by threatening to circulate his obscene pictures. The accused had contacted the youth through a dating App used by the LGBTQ community.

The youth lodged a complaint at Ballygunge Police Station on July 17, alleging that he was blackmailed and assaulted by three individuals. He told the police that he had met a man on GRINDR, a social networking App popular among LGBTQ individuals. The man introduced himself as Ashish and proposed an in-person meeting. After the youth agreed, they met near the crossing of Ballygunge Circular Road and Gurusaday Dutta Road, from where he was taken to a nearby hutment. While the two were in a compromising position, two other men entered and allegedly took photographs of the youth. When he protested, he was allegedly assaulted. The accused then forced him to make multiple online payments amounting to Rs 96,888 to different bank accounts. He was released after being threatened.

During investigation, police discovered that the man who went by the name Ashish was actually Bijay Stephen Singh, a resident of the Ballygunge Circular Road area. He was arrested from his home late on Monday night. Following his interrogation, the police arrested two more accused—Irfan Ahmed and Md. Wazed—both residents of Beniapukur, on Tuesday.