Noida, Jan 9 (PTI) The Noida police on Tuesday apprehended five people, including two women and a minor girl, for allegedly honey-trapping men and extorting money from them, officials said.

The ringleader, identified as 38-year-old Kavita Chaudhary, is accused of orchestrating the scheme involving her minor daughter, niece, and other girls to befriend unsuspecting men after contacting them online, Additional DCP (Central Noida) Hridesh Katheria said.

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"Kavita's daughter and niece, Pooja Chaudhary (20), would initiate contact by leaving messages and missed calls on the mobile numbers of targeted individuals. Once the victims responded, the girls would befriend them and lure them to isolated areas in the city," Katheria said.

"Upon reaching these locations, Kavita, along with her associates Farooq (27) and Vishnu alias Damru (19), would confront the unsuspecting men, with Farooq posing as a lawyer," the officer said.

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The gang would then accuse the men of rape and extort money from them to "settle" the matter, the officer said.

Kavita's 17-year-old daughter has been sent to a correction home, Katheria told reporters.

The gang has been operating for the last year and has duped around half a dozen men, according to police.

The racket was busted by the officials of Surajpur police station after being approached by a man, who claimed that the gang extorted Rs 1.47 lakh from him.

According to police, the gang's illicit activities extended beyond extortion, with victims recounting incidents of assault and criminal intimidation.

They revealed that in 2023 alone, the gang successfully trapped over five people, extracting approximately Rs 10 lakh from them.

The four accused were produced before a magistrate on Tuesday and sent to judicial custody, police said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)