The Mumbai Police arrested Ankur Meena, the alleged mastermind behind a sophisticated dating app scam that targeted men by luring them to nightclubs through fake female profiles. The 26-year-old was apprehended after an extensive manhunt led by Cyber In-charge Assistant Police Inspector Vivek Tambe and Police Sub-Inspector Rohan Patil.
DCP Anand Bhoite of Zone XI and Senior Police Inspector Anil Thackeray oversaw the operation, which involved camping in Delhi for several days to locate Meena. To evade capture, he frequently changed locations, moving from his home to a hotel in Delhi, from where he allegedly orchestrated the scam targeting nightclubs in the area.
On Thursday morning, police received accurate information about Meena’s whereabouts and successfully arrested him at the IP Royal Hotel in Anand Vihar, according to an officer from Bangur Nagar police station.
Meena, who hails from a respectable family in Sushila Garden, Saboli Extension, reportedly kept his family unaware of his criminal activities. While working at various nightclubs in Delhi, he became involved with individuals running scams through dating apps and began to mimic their methods.
Although Meena has not been fully cooperative, he has revealed the names of certain clubs in Mumbai implicated in the scam. The police are investigating which clubs in Mumbai, Pune, and Thane were involved, as well as identifying other accomplices.
The scam involved male suspects creating fake profiles on dating apps, posing as women to engage with targets. After building trust, they would invite victims to a pub or bar for a date, where a female accomplice would be waiting to order expensive food and drinks.
Once the victim became heavily intoxicated, the woman would vanish, leaving him with a hefty bill. Bar staff would then pressure the intoxicated men into paying the inflated amount. Police suspect a collaboration between the accused and pub staff, who were allegedly offered a cut of the extorted money.
In one notable incident from September, a Goregaon resident fell victim to this scheme after meeting a woman named Muskaan on a dating app. After inviting him to a pub in Andheri (West) and ordering a large amount of food and drinks, she disappeared while he was intoxicated, leaving him with a Rs40,000 bill.
The investigation is ongoing as authorities work to unravel the full extent of the scam and identify all involved parties.
