Pune police have uncovered a concerning trend involving criminals using dating apps as a tool for robbery, particularly targeting members of the LGBTQ community. In a recent operation, police arrested four persons using an LGBTQ dating platform to lure victims before robbing them.
According to officials, such incidents have been reported across the city for the past couple of months, preying on individuals through fake profiles. Once contact was established, victims were invited to isolated locations where they were beaten up and looted.
Police sources revealed that the under-reporting of incidents is a major challenge in cracking down on such crimes. Due to the prevailing social stigma and fear of discrimination, many transgender victims have chosen not to register formal complaints. This reluctance has, in turn, emboldened criminals.
“It is noticed that individuals with prior criminal backgrounds are now entering this space by targeting the LGBTQ community,” said Ravindra Gaikwad, senior police inspector at Bund Garden police station. In the first week of April, Bund Garden police arrested Wahid Sheikh, Mehboob Sheikh, Shriniwas Nayak and Sohel Sheikh for allegedly robbing a man after luring him through a dating app.
In January, Nanded City police arrested four people, including three minors, for attacking and robbing a victim by using an LGBTQ dating app. Of these, two minors were habitual offenders.
An official who was part of the investigation in a case of dating app robbery reported at Nanded City police station said, “The Accused knew that in such a case, due to social stigma, the victims tried to avoid registering a police case. Taking advantage of it, these frequent offenders are trying to enter into this field.’’
Machhindra Khade, ACP (EOW and Cyber), said, “Cybercrime cases require complex technical investigation to be handled by the cyber department. In such cases, only mobile applications are used as a medium to rob the victim. Hence, these do not come under the cyber department.’’
Anil Ukarande, the founder and president of Yutak Trust, an LGBTQ organisation that has been assisting victims, said, “For the people having a criminal background, to target LGBTQ community people via various dating apps is like fodder ground. They know that due to social stigma, identity revelation issues, family issues, the behaviour of the police, victims trying to avoid police intervention, hence accused remains unnoticeable.”
According to Ukarande, he is constantly receiving calls from the various victims from Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and across the district, informing him about the robbery incident that happened with them via a dating app. However, due to constant awareness campaigns, in the last three months, they had filed six cases out of the total 12 cases reported to him.
Shameebha Patil, the transgender social activist, demands that top security features be provided by dating mobile app companies to avoid such cases.
“Many non-LGBTQ members use such apps by using their fake identity and targeting LGBTQ community members. Then, in most cases, the victims are robbed under the guise of a meeting.’’
According to Patil, mobile application companies should make Gender Dysphoria (GD) certificates for the users to make such dating apps safer. In the last year, Patil received over 50 calls from such victims, who did not want to lodge a police complaint.
