In Davanagere, the police busted the honey trap gang that targeted wealthy young men and arrested five suspects, two of them women. Davanagere Rural Police conducted the operation after a victim accused of being trapped, assaulted and robbed by the group, a police report found.
Police officials said the operation was a systematic scheme where women would first come into contact with wealthy young men, following the steps that lured them to distant places and then be beaten and robbed by other gang members. From that list is a 34-year-old woman named Panchami, who was also suspected of being instrumental in trapping victims by making new friends and gaining their confidence.
Jagadish (35), Ganga Mallesh Nayak (25) and Venkatesh (30) were booked on assault and robbery charges against the victims. Panchami got to know a young man of a well-known family and supposedly invited him out to a remote area near Shivanahalli Road in Harihar taluk of Davanagere district, investigators said.
The lady brought the victim there several days earlier. Shortly after that, the gang members who were present at the time then physically attacked the youth and stole from him gold ornaments and valuables before leaving the scene. With reference to the complaint, the Davanagere Rural Police made a case registration and performed an investigative task.
Through both technical investigations and field-level investigations, officers followed up with and prosecuted all five suspects behind the operation. During the raids, police recovered around 80.16 grams of gold ornaments worth about Rs 10.20 lakh from the crime suspect.
An Innova car worth nearly Rs 8 lakh that was apparently used in that crime was also recovered. Investigators suspect the gang may have cheated and looted dozens of other youths using an equivalent honey trap process. The gang’s concern was wealthy young men who had access to a lifestyle they could not afford, according to a source in the police, and it used interactions with family members to extort money and property.
Police are also looking to see if the gang was operating in other districts, as well as how many other victims were expected to emerge in the coming days. Police are also reviewing the mobile phone records, accounts and social media activity of the accused and financial transactions related to his conduct. It had once again reiterated the growing number of honey trap cases in Karnataka and regions in India.
Officers have urged individuals to be on the lookout when talking with people they don’t know online, especially young men or in social networks, and keep up with them. On Wednesday, senior police officers said the police probe had intensified, and additional arrests were possible if further connections to organised crime were established.
