Betrayal, Rs 2 Lakh Extortion: Bengaluru Techie's Bumble Date Turns Into Nightmare

A techie in Bengaluru matched with a woman on Bumble, and the two, after weeks of casual texting and video calls, decided to go on a date after a month. They met at a coffee shop, and everything seemed normal. Later, she suggested they go to a room and have a few drinks, but what happened later turned a good date into a nightmare.

Just as they were sitting and talking, four men stormed the room and accused him of being a part of a drug party and threatened to call the police, and demanded searching his room. They pulled out packets of white powder from the woman's bag, claiming it was drugs.

The woman, Sangeetha, broke down. She started crying and ran into another room, and threatened to kill herself because she couldn't face the consequences. Now, the techie, fearing arrest, pleaded with the men to let him go. The gang of four initially demanded Rs 15 lakh as settlement, but after negotiations, he paid them Rs 2 lakh.

Three days after the nightmarish date, the man complained to the police, and it helped uncover a date-extortion module run by the woman and the men.

The entire thing was planned, from the moment the woman matched with the techie to extorting Rs 2 lakh. The woman is a part of the gang, and the white powder was not drugs but baking soda.

Police arrested six people in connection with the case: Sharanabasappa, Raju Mane, Shyam Sundar, Abhishek, Birbal, and Sangeetha.

Speaking to NDTV, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East Division) Sajeeth V J said, "One of the accused has a prior case for a similar offence in Bengaluru. We are verifying the criminal background of the others. The woman, we have learnt, hails from Uttar Pradesh and was working in a dance bar before this. We are investigating further. We are trying to ascertain how many such victims there are. They have confessed to having done it before, too. We will contact victims and get more details."

Authorities suspect that this may not be the gang's only victim and have urged others who may have faced similar traps to come forward.