Delhi: 60-year-old Doctor falls victim to honey trap, duped of Rs 9 lakh

New Delhi: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has busted a honey trap racket, arresting three persons for impersonating police officers and allegedly running a gang that targeted men, extorting money by threatening them with rape cases. The racket was exposed after a 60-year-old doctor from Dwarka filed a complaint.

The Crime Branch on Wednesday claimed to have busted a gang of fake policemen who would extort people after setting up honey traps in outer Delhi's Kanjhawala area, police said. Three fake Delhi Police identity cards and a Delhi Police head constable rank uniform were also recovered from the accused.

The racket came to light after a 60-year-old doctor in Dwarka was duped of Rs 9 lakh by these accused following which he reported the incident to the police leading to the discovery of these fraudsters.

In August 2024, the doctor received a call from a woman who asked him to come to her house to treat her ailing mother. He agreed and went to her flat near Janakpuri Metro Station only to find that there was no sick patient and she was trying to seduce him. Moments later, the accused posing as police officers busted into the room and threatened the doctor with a criminal case.

However, the fake police officers asked the doctor to give him some money to put aside the case. In fear, the doctor handed them the money. Later, he realised that he was scammed and filed a police complaint at Bindapur police station. A case under relevant sections of the BNS was registered. Four accused, including two women, were arrested but two were absconding.

According to the PTI report, “Neeraj Tyagi alias Dheeraj alias Dheeru, 42 Years, of Tilak Nagar, Ashish Mathur, 31, of Karala, and Deepak alias Sajan, 30, of Kharkhoda were arrested near Budh Vihar Nala, Main Kanjhawala Road on Tuesday,” Additional Commissioner of Police (crime) Sanjay Bhatia said.

The accused were taken to the Crime Branch office for further interrogations where they tried to escape from custody but were overpowered, Bhatia added. Neeraj and Deepak were wanted in a honey trap case of Bindapur in the Dwarka district, he said.

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As per an Indian Express news report, the 'honeytrap' gang made women seduce male victims and then men, impersonating police officers, used to “raid” the locations. They would extort money from their targets by threatening to implicate them in rape cases.

“The doctor went to the address of the girl, located near the Janakpuri Metro station, West Delhi. There, she served him snacks. The girl unbuttoned the doctor’s shirt and four people, including two in police uniform, entered the room, police said in a statement. The girl escaped and all four people caught the doctor and allegedly extorted Rs nine lakh from him by threatening arrest in a criminal case, it stated.

Police told The Daily, "The first case by the gang came to light in 2019, where Ashish had hatched a plan to extort a man in Rohini. One of the women asked a man for a lift near BSA hospital. The man, who was on a two-wheeler, took her to her home where she invited him in. She then lured the man into getting physical with her… and as soon as she came close, Ashish, along with his two associates, entered the room dressed as policemen. They then asked for Rs 50,000 from the man and threatened him with a criminal case if he didn’t comply."

"However, the man only had Rs 8,000 which he gave to the accused. The accused dropped him off near BSA hospital and fled. The victim then filed a police complaint at North Rohini police station,” the police officer added.

The recent arrest was made after the police received a tip-off about the gang's location. They were on their way to meet another associate for scamming another victim to extort money in modus operandi.

Additional commissioner of police (crime) Sanjay Bhatia told HT, “In the evening, team members spotted a Hyundai i20 car and signalled its driver to stop. Three occupants identified themselves as Delhi Police personnel and produced their police IDs. One head constable uniform was also there in the car. They tried to flee when asked to accompany the police team to the crime branch office for further verification. However, they were overpowered."

According to the police, the gang comprised 10-12 men and at least five women. An investigation is underway to identify more men involved in the racket.

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