Journalist among 5 held for ‘honeytrap’

NEW DELHI: Having reported on honey trap and extortion cases and knowing that most victims do not approach the police, a TV journalist allegedly began using the same modus operandi to dupe people, police said on Monday.

Sameer Siddiqui, 34, would play himself while his colleagues allegedly posed as sex workers or just customers to extort from unsuspecting men. Threatened with fake rape cases and police action, many men had coughed up lakhs of rupees to go scot-free, said Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (crime).

Siddiqui and five others, including three women, were arrested on Saturday after a crime branch officer posed as a client to draw the gang members out. Police sources said some of the arrested persons were regular visitors to the media department of the Delhi Police Headquarters.

Their latest victim was a computer professional, who offered at-home repair services. He alleged that he had received a computer repair service request on Whatsapp on April 1. He was called by the ‘customer’ to a flat in north Delhi’s Keshavpuram.

“When the man arrived at the flat, the woman customer asked him to wait in a room. Within minutes, the woman undressed herself and approached him. Before he could react, four persons stormed into the flat. They posed as crime branch officials and journalists,” said Kumar.

The man was allegedly thrashed and forced to undress even as one man recorded the entire act. “He was warned that he would be implicated in a rape case or a prostitution racket if he did not cough up ₹5 lakh,” said Kumar. The threat to show the video to the man’s wife further helped scare the victim.

But the man approached the crime branch after which one policeman posed as decoy and a trap was laid at the same flat where the victim was targeted. Four persons, including Siddiqui, were nabbed at the spot itself while two others were caught later.