Six persons, including two women, were arrested in Greater Noida on Wednesday as the police cracked down on a gang extorting money from people after honey trapping them. The gang operated a honey trap scheme and used female accomplices to lure victims through phone calls into meeting them in person, police said.
According to the police, the gang, however, later threatened victims with false rape accusations and extorted money through intimidation and violence. Those held have been identified as gang leader Raj Chaudhary, Bhupendra Singh, Faizan Ahmed, Rahul Kumar, Sanjana Yadav and Rifa alias Rustam, police said.
“The gang members duped gullible people. They would first befriend them over phone calls and then call them to some place on pretext of partying. They would later threaten to implicate them in case of rape, molestation. They also assaulted the victims to illegally extort money from them,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Ashok Kumar Sharma.
“Six people, including two women members, of the gang have been arrested. They would use fake identities while introducing themselves to their targets. A Mahindra Scorpio car has also been impounded from their possession,” he added.
The lid blew off the racket after a Moradabad-based man Sameer (name changed) approached the local Beta 2 police station with a complaint on Tuesday.
“On June 10, 2024, the accused lured Sameer through Rifa and called him to Pi-3 Roundabout for meeting. Sameer along with one of his friends fell into the trap set by the gang. Rifa informed her co-conspirators that the victims had arrived, prompting the mastermind, Raj Chaudhary, to proceed with the plan,” said a police spokesperson.
“Raj Chaudhary, accompanied by his associates Sanjana Yadav, Bhupendra Singh, Faizan Ahmed and Rahul Kumar, arrived at the Pi-3 Roundabout in a Scorpio vehicle. They boarded Sameer’s car, forcefully taking control and threatening both the friends,” he added.
The gang demanded Rs five lakh from them, threatening to falsely implicate them in a rape case. In fear, Sameer handed over Rs 50,000 that he had in his car, the spokesperson said.
Following the incident, Sameer lodged a complaint at Beta-2 Police Station and an FIR was registered under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 342 (wrongful confinement), 384 (extortion) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), police said.
Charges under Section 34 (impersonation at time of enrolment) of the Aadhar Act have also been invoked in the case, they added.
The police said taking up investigation in the case, they apprehended the accused near Pari Chowk on Wednesday and during interrogation, the gang admitted to a similar crime 20 days prior near a farmhouse in Sector-135, Noida.
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