Kolkata, July 30 Kolkata Police have unearthed an extortion racket that allegedly blackmailed people with alternative sexual orientation after contacting them through queer dating apps.
A statement issued by the city police on Wednesday morning stated that three persons have also been arrested in connection with this incident.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Bijay Stephen Singh, also known as Asish (31), Irfan Ahmed (28), and Md Wazed (26).
The accused used to demand Rs 1 lakh from victims by threatening them to disclose their orientation on social media.
In the particular case, one of the gang members first contacted the victim youth through a queer dating app and subsequently became intimate with him in a flat. Thereafter, the other gang members took photos of the two in an intimate position and started blackmailing the victim youth, who ultimately ended up paying Rs 1 lakh to the gang members.
Bijay Stephen Singh a.k.a. Asish, as per the city police statement, had been identified as the person who contacted the victim youth and subsequently became intimate with him in the empty flat.
Irfan Ahmed and Md Wazed were those who started clicking pictures of the two in intimate positions, through which they blackmailed and extorted money from the victim youth.
"On July 17, a complaint of extortion was received at Ballygunge Police Station. After interacting with a young man named 'Ashis' through the Grindr app, the complainant went to meet him at a residence on Ballygunge Circular Road. At that time, two other accomplices of the accused went to the residence and, threatening to defame the complainant, extorted Rs 96,888 in instalments. The money was transferred online from different bank accounts to the three accused," said the police on Wednesday.
The cops started the investigation and subsequently arrested the three accused persons.
A case under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered against the trio.
City-based queer rights activists feel that although it is the duty of the Queer Rights activist groups operating in the city to sensitise the people from the community on safe-dating, it is also the responsibility of individual members from the community to adopt some precautions before going for such blind-dates.
"As it is, people from the Queer community, especially the effeminate males and transgender persons, are quite vulnerable to being victimised like this case. So, I think that it is high time that the Queer Rights activist groups operating in the city should start conducting periodical workshops on safe dating, where other stakeholders like law enforcement agencies, advocates, and psychologists, among others, could be involved," said Debangshi Biswas, a leading face of Queer Rights movement in Kolkata.
Another Queer Rights activist and social media influencer, Debika Barua, told IANS that more than the community's responsibility, it is the responsibility of the individuals from the community to get aware of the safety aspects involved with blind-dating.
"The incident was very unfortunate. Everyone, be it a member of Queer community or any other straight person, must use caution while meeting someone through a dating app," Barua added
Incidentally, the Supreme Court had ruled in September 2018 that homosexuality is not a crime. The Top Court had also struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which described homosexuality as a "punishable offence".
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