Honey-trap racket busted, gang leader among 5 land in police net

The Faridabad Police have busted a gang allegedly involved in extorting money from people through honey trapping and arrested five persons, including two women, in this regard.

According to Hemender Kumar Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), the accused have been identified as Saniya (23) and Irfan (27) of Fatehpur village, Rahish (48) and Fareed (27) of Qureshipur village, and Reshma (45) of Dhauj village. Rahish works in the wood trade, Fareed owns a meat shop, Irfan is a labourer and both women are housewives.

The honey trap racket was being run by Saniya and her husband, Salim, along with her uncle Rafiq, aunt Reshma and others, including Kale, alias Mubarik.

According to the police, Saniya, the leader of the gang, would lure victims into physical relationships through enticing conversations. Once the victim was trapped, the gang would blackmail and extort money from them. On September 11, a case was registered at the Dhauj police station on charges of conspiracy, extortion, snatching and kidnapping. The gang had committed a similar crime against a Nuh resident, Arif.

In his complaint, Arif said Saniya had called him in February 2024, trapping him with her romantic advances. On February 23, she told him that her husband had beaten her and asked him to save her life. Arif, along with his friend Kale, alias Mubarik, went to rescue her. Around 9 pm, he picked Saniya up near Tewatia Farm in Ballabhgarh and took her to Nekpur village. There, Saniya began to woo Arif, urging him to engage in physical relations.

As per the plan, Saniya’s husband, Salim, and other gang members arrived at the scene, accusing Arif of inappropriate behaviour with Saniya and threatening him.

“Fearing humiliation, I gathered money from various sources and handed over Rs 3.51 lakh to them,” Arif stated in his complaint. He later learned that his friend Kale, alias Mubarik, was part of the same gang and had given him Saniya’s number. Arif also revealed that the gang had committed similar crimes in the past.

Following Arif’s complaint, an FIR was registered, and the Sector 56 Crime Unit arrested Saniya on September 14 from Pali village. She was sent to police custody after being produced in a city court, and Irfan and Rahish were arrested the same day. On September 15, Reshma was arrested, followed by Fareed on September 17.

“Three other members of the same gang had previously been arrested for extorting Rs 1 lakh from a dhaba owner in Sector 58. We are currently interrogating the accused and working to identify other victims of the honey trap operation,” said DCP Meena.