Online dating racket busted in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The Detective Department of the Hyderabad City Police on Monday busted an online dating racket and arrested three persons. Sixteen women telecallers, who were allegedly part of the racket, were issued notices.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Detective Department) Avinash Mohanty said Soma Roka (26), Arnabsur (26), Md Imran (26) and Ho Chi-Minh Sarani were operating the racket with the help of tele-callers from Kolkata.

They randomly called men and lured them into joining their online dating site by paying Rs 1,025 initially as registration charges and later collected huge money towards various charges. In a particular case registered with the Cyber Crime police station of Hyderabad, a



tele-caller called up a victim and initially demanded Rs 1,025 towards registration. She later asked him to deposit Rs 18,000 for membership and submit photographs along with other particulars.

“After taking photographs, they started blackmailing the victim saying the police would catch them and extorted Rs 75,000. They later asked him to deposit Rs 1.20 lakh,” the DCP said, adding that following a complaint, the Cyber Crime police raided the premises of Saha Enterprises JT Services Private Limited at Kolkata and arrested the suspects.

“They have cheated thousands of people across the country and fleeced several crores of rupees,” Mohanty said.