The mastermind behind the interstate dating app racket has been identified as Delhi resident Tarun Kumar Meena, who also goes by the monikers Happy Singh and Meena Defaulter. His key associate, Pratham, operates under the aliases Chandu and Praveen. The cops, who raided a Goregaon hotel last week in connection with the scam, arresting six suspects, including two women, are in hot pursuit of the brains behind the operation.
The arrested accused provided the police with the names of more individuals involved in the scam, but the authorities have not disclosed them.
According to the police, Meena, a Delhi resident who hails from Ghaziabad, had been overseeing the network, which included clubs in Pune and Mumbai, for the past two years. Meena secured partnerships by assuring club owners of rapid business growth and high profits. Once a deal was made, Pratham and his associates managed the day-to-day operations, including bill collection.
Suspects arrested in connection with the dating app scam being brought out of the Hotel Royal Inn on September 4. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Meena had allegedly roped in Mumbai residents, including so-called social workers and goons, who were tasked with preventing activists from
affecting operations.
Strong-arm tactics
Pratham was identified as the individual who threatened a victim who had filed an FIR at Bangur Nagar police station. When the man couldn’t make a payment, Pratham escorted him from Godfather Club & Lounge and forced him to withdraw money from an ATM using the cardless method. He presented himself to the victim as Praveen, though he is known as Chandu within the gang.
Pratham aka Chandu aka Praveen
Meena allegedly enticed men and women working in clubs with promises of large commissions, often flying them from Delhi to Mumbai as needed. He also managed their accounts and financial transactions. Meena would visit the clubs in the evenings to review accounts and collect earnings.
The accused revealed that Meena initially promised his accomplices a 30-35 per cent commission but would hand out lower amounts after the job was done. For example, if a woman helped rack up a Rs 41,000 bill and taxes and GST inflated the amount to Rs 51,000, the commission was calculated based on the initial figure. Meena would then pay the woman and her associates just 20 per cent of this.
SIM card fraud
The investigation also uncovered that bills were generated using a mobile application that could not be traced, with fake GST numbers, allowing the scamsters to defraud both the government and unsuspecting customers.
The men and women involved in the racket used SIM cards sourced from different states for Rs 1,000 per card to lure victims and maintain communication. Around 300 SIM cards were used each month, which were subsequently blocked.
Payments from victims were processed through accounts ‘rented’ by the gang, similar to cyber fraud schemes used to transfer illegal funds.
‘Kingpin wants revenge’
Filmmaker and men’s rights activist Deepika Narayan Bharadwaj, said, “We worked hard to expose the gang’s activities, sharing news and their fraudulent tactics on social media to raise public awareness. While the Mumbai police have arrested several gang members and revealed their operations, the kingpin, Meena, has gone underground and as I was involved in exposing this gang, he and his gang members are planning to execute a criminal act against me to teach me a lesson.”
She added that she possessed WhatsApp chats proving the gang planned to carry out an act that would be to detrimental her life and well-being. “I have lodged an online complaint with the police. I urge the cops to arrest the kingpin and his gang as soon as possible,” she added.
300
No. of SIM cards used by the racketeers each month
Sep 4
Day 6 suspects were nabbed during a raid in Goregaon
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