Police have arrested four men accused of robbing a man from the LGBTQ community through a honeytrap-style blackmail scheme, reportedly inspired by a similar case in Tamil Nadu.
The suspects were caught following a complaint from a Venjaramoodu resident, who lost gold ornaments worth 3.5 sovereigns in the scam. According to the Venjaramoodu police, one of the accused discovered the fraud method on online platforms and recruited the others to carry out the crime.
The group created fake profiles on dating websites targeting the LGBTQ community, despite not belonging to it themselves. They lured victims by pretending to be members of the community and arranged meetings at various city locations. During these meetings, the accused secretly took compromising photos of the victims.
The photos were then used to extort money and valuables by threatening to publish the images. Due to fear and embarrassment, many victims did not report the crime to authorities.
Police stated the accused have been conducting such frauds for about six months and admitted to cheating several individuals. The ongoing investigation involves analyzing their bank accounts, phones, call records, and chat history to identify more victims and establish the full extent of the crime. Authorities expect more complaints to surface soon.
The arrested men have been identified as Sudheer (24) of Chithara, Muhammad Salman (19) of Punnamon, Ashique (19) of Manalayam, and Sajith (18) of Kollayil.
