Three men have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a man whose number they got through a dating app and tried to extort Rs 5 lakh from him after offering him the job of a male escort, the Oshiwara police said on Wednesday, adding that the accused managed to extort Rs 7,000 during the kidnapping itself by making the victim pay it to them via online payment.
According to the police, the 24-year-old complainant gave his details on a dating app after which the accused called him up on August 9 saying that he would get Rs 10,000 if he was ready to become a male escort for a female client through the app.
The complainant was asked to meet the accused near Infinity Mall in Andheri (west) around 11 pm on August 10. After meeting them, the complainant was trapped in the car of the accused where they allegedly tried to extort Rs 5 lakh from him saying they would get him arrested by police if he did not give them the money. Later the complainant was forced to pay Rs 7,000 via online payment after which they let him go, added the police.
“The accused have been arrested after watching CCTV cameras and spotting the vehicle used during the crime, further investigation is going on,” said Manohar Dhanwade, senior inspector of the Oshiwara police station.
The two accused have been identified as Mohitkumar Tak (29) alias Prashant dancer or Bebo, from Bangur Nagar in Goregaon; Wajhul Khan (35), a driver working with a cab aggregator from Malwani, both were arrested on Tuesday. While the third accused, Kaif Ansari (20), who allegedly used his online payment QR code to receive the money from the victim was arrested on Wednesday.
The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 365 (kidnapping), 384 (extortion), 347 (wrongful confinement to extort property), 385 (extortion by putting a person in fear), and 34 (common intention).
