In another incidence of crime using the popular gay dating app Grindr, three men kidnapped a 14 year old boy from Mathura, who was then rescued by the police within 10 hours. The kidnapper, a 24 year old man from Haryana, had befriended the teenager via Grindr, and had asked him to meet at Tank Chowk, Mathura, on 15th Sep around 6:30 pm, according to a report in the Times of India.
The two then went to a restaurant some 5km away. The 24 year old man was later joined by two other men, and they abducted the boy and took him to a jungle. The kidnappers then made a ransom call to his family and demanded 5 Lakh Rupees. His father, a businessman, immediately approached the police, who formed a team to nab the kidnappers and started tracking the mobile number from which the ransom call was made.
Luckily for the boy, the car in which the abductors were travelling broke down and a Police Response Vehicle (PRV) spotted them. Since the location of the tracked mobile was the same, the PRV approached the car, when two of the abductors fled while the main accused was nabbed and the boy rescued. Police is interrogating the accused and has launched a manhunt to arrest his two accomplices.
While Grindr’s Terms of Service state that the minimum age for using the app is 18, there are no checks to ensure that and many underage boys are using the app. There have been increased incidences of crimes related to robbery, extortion and blackmail committed against gay men using Grindr, with Noida Police having recently busted a gang that used to target gay men. However, this is the first reported incidence of kidnapping using Grindr.
Note: Read this post for safety tips about online dating
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