Surathkal police have busted a honey trap racket and arrested four persons, including two women.
According to the police, the arrested persons have been identified Reshma alias Neema, Iqbal Mohammed alias Iqbal, Zeenath alias Zeenath Mubin and Nasif alias Adul Khader Najeep. Reshma was a beedi roller while Zeenath was an insurance agent. Iqbal and Nasif were working as drivers. Zeenath and Iqbal, who were husband and wife, were living in an apartment at Kana-Katla in Surathkal.
The case came to light after a victim filed a complaint with Surathkal police alleging that a gang had assaulted and threatened to upload a video, showing him removing his clothes, on social media on January 16.
The gang also had blackmailed the youth from Kasargod and had demanded Rs 5 lakh, City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar told reporters here.
The police have recovered five credit cards, ATM cards, four mobile phones and an SUV from the accused members of the gang.
Elaborating on the modus operandi, the top cop said Reshma and Zeenath had befriended the victim, who is into the transport business, on Facebook two months ago. Soon, they exchanged phone numbers and were chatting for hours. On January 16, Reshma invited the victim to her house in Surathkal.
When he reached the house, the other members of the gang assaulted him and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh. They even shot his video and threatened to upload it on social media. Both women had even threatened to file sexual assault cases if he fails to hand over the money. When he could not pay the amount immediately, the gang had seized his car and as a first instalment had collected Rs 30,000 from him, the police commissioner said.
He hinted at the involvement of more people in the case. Based on the evidence in the mobile phones of the arrested members, the gang had honey-trapped six men in the past two to three months. The police are checking the chat history and trying to contact the victims to file cases, he said.
The police commissioner said all the four accused were leading a lavish life purchasing clothes and other accessories online at regular intervals.
They were in possession of four credit cards and revealed that they were into this business for 8 months. They were also involved in illegal transportation of cattle, he said.