The Andhra Pradesh Police on Monday claimed to have arrested five people, including two women, for allegedly running a honey-trap gang to lure and blackmail rich men and boys in Kurnool.
Those arrested have been identified as Shakuntala, Anjanama, an auto-driver Kishore, plumber Nagraj and Dasa.
According to police, the honey-trap gang came on their radar after a man lodged a complaint with the Kurnool Police about a woman and a few others blackmailing him. “The victim in his complaint mentioned that his blackmailers are threatening him of uploading his photographs in semi-naked and compromising positions with a woman on various social media platforms.”
The victim spoke to the media and explained the modus operandi of the honey-trapping gang. He said, “A few weeks ago, a woman called me from a random number. Falling prey to her sweet voice, I started talking to her. Slowly, with time, we became friends.
“With lockdown relaxed, we met several times in public places. I thought we both were falling in love. One fine day she invited me to her place. Today, I regret why I went to her house. I don’t know when and how she clicked photos and recorded videos of our compromising position,” added the victim.
The Kurnool man further added that once he was back home and thought of talking to her, the number was unreachable.
“The very next day, I started receiving calls from the same number and they threatened me that they would upload my photographs in a compromising position. This is when I realised I have been honey-trapped,” added the victim.
“Scared, I gave them more than Rs. 1.20 lakhs in cash and eight lakhs in form of promissory notes and cheques,” the man added.
The Kurnool Police told the media that they have recovered the cash, cheques and promissory notes from the arrested. “On questioning the arrested, we have learnt that they have trapped several other well-to-do people of the city,” added Kurnool Police.
During interrogation, they told the police that the male members of the honey-trap gang used to collect numbers of rich and well to do men and boys. The women members of the gang used to trap their victims over the phone and invite them to their place. “Using spy cams, they used to take photographs of these men and women in compromising positions, the police said, adding, “later the male members would WhatsApp them their photos, blackmail them and extract money”.
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