Kerala police have busted a four-member gang who extorted lakhs of rupees from a whole bunch of individuals, largely from the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, after luring them by way of the relationship app Grindr.
Grindr is a location-based social networking and on-line relationship utility for homosexual, bisexual, queer, and transgender individuals.
The accused landed in police custody lately when one of many victims lodged a criticism with native police alleging that that they had extorted his gold chain and ring, value two and a half sovereigns, and later deserted him in a abandoned place in close by Palode.
According to the Venjaramoodu police, the gang had been indulging in fraud, focusing on primarily homosexual, gay, and transgender individuals, nevertheless it was the primary time that an individual got here up with a proper criticism in opposition to them.
“All four accused were local youth aged between 18 and 24 years. The mastermind was Sudheer, a native of Chithara here,” a senior police officer mentioned on Wednesday.
The co-accused have been Mohammed Salman (19), Ashiq (19) and Sajith (18), he mentioned.
The complainant got here into contact with the accused after downloading the Grindr app lately, and so they determined to fulfill on the Venjaramoodu-Attingal street on August 7.
As per the modus operandi of the gang, the primary or second accused would spend time with the particular person whom they lured inside a automotive in an empty space of the assembly place.
The third or fourth accused would seem as strangers, get into the automotive, drive away at excessive pace, and rob the sufferer, the officer mentioned.
The sufferer was additionally threatened and crushed up earlier than being robbed of his gold ornaments and deserted within the abandoned space, he mentioned.
Even the complainant initially believed that it was a freeway theft, the police mentioned, including {that a} detailed investigation introduced out the reality later.
“As the accused deleted the entire data in the complainant’s phone through a factory reset, there was no clue to reach them. We later retrieved the entire chat through the app with the help of the cyber forensic wing,” the police officer detailed.
The accused have been suspected to have extorted lakhs of rupees from a whole bunch of individuals, however nobody was able to lodge a criticism, the police mentioned.
“We examined the mobile phone chats and Google Pay transactions of the first accused and identified several such victims. They admitted that they had lost money, but none of them were ready to lodge a complaint because of their social status,” the officer added.
Published – August 13, 2025 02:35 pm IST
