Surat:A 26-year-old Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) school teacher was allegedly extorted of Rs 30,000 after being lured through a social networking app used by LGBTQ persons.The victim was contacted through the Grindr app, where he had created a profile under the name ‘Anderson’ to meet male friends. After chatting with a user who agreed to meet him for a casual interaction, the victim was called to a location near a farm in the Variyav area on March 18 after his school hours.According to police, when the teacher reached the location on his motorcycle, Naresh Maru joined him and sat as a pillion rider, directing him to a farm a few kilometres away where the second accused, Raju Mer, was waiting.Police said the two accused allegedly assaulted the victim, recorded his video and threatened to circulate it, before forcing him to hand over his debit card and PIN. They later withdrew Rs 30,000 from his bank account.The victim later approached the Jahangirpura police, who advised him to assist in trapping the accused. Police then created a decoy profile on the app. When the accused contacted the decoy and called him to the same location, a police team reached the spot.After the victim identified the suspects, police first arrested Maru. Based on his interrogation, Mer, who was waiting at the farm, was also arrested.Both have been booked for extortion based on the teacher’s complaint, police said.
