Bhubaneswar, May 22: A youth was allegedly trapped, assaulted and robbed by a gang operating through a fake profile on a social media dating app in Bhubaneswar. Following a complaint lodged at Nayapalli Police Station, police arrested one accused, identified as Chikun Behera of Salia Sahi, while efforts are on to nab others involved in the case.
According to police, complainant Gyanaranjan Rout had come across a dating profile named “You Are Manju”, featuring the photo of a young woman. After chatting for several days on the dating app and later on Instagram, the accused allegedly convinced him to meet near the IRC Village electricity office on May 12.
Excited to meet his online girlfriend, Gyanaranjan reached the spot carrying flowers and chocolates. However, instead of meeting “Manju”, he allegedly found Rajib Nayak, Aryan Das, Chikun Behera and a few others waiting there. The group allegedly abducted him to a house, assaulted him and looted Rs 12,000 in cash along with a gold chain.
The accused also allegedly forced him to transfer Rs 30,900 online to a PhonePe account linked to Sandeep Ray alias Tubula Lokanath Sahu. To stop him from approaching police, the gang allegedly recorded objectionable videos of him and threatened to make them viral on social media.
Out of fear, the victim initially remained silent and later lodged a complaint on May 14. During the investigation, police found that the accused had created a fake dating profile to lure victims and rob them. Chikun was arrested based on the PhonePe transaction details, while police are searching for the remaining accused.
