Man Lured Through Dating App, Robbed in Gujarat; 3 Arrested

August 16, 2026

Valsad: Three men were arrested within hours of an alleged robbery in Vapi taluka of Gujarat’s Valsad district after they allegedly lured a man to an isolated location through a dating application, assaulted him and fled with Rs 14,000, police said on Sunday.

According to Dungra police, the incident took place on the evening of August 12. The 22-year-old complainant had established contact with an unknown person through a dating app and was subsequently called to a location near Bharat Petrol Pump in Karwad.

Police said three men took him to a dark and isolated spot, assaulted him and threatened to kill him while displaying a knife. They allegedly forcibly took Rs 14,000 from him before fleeing.

Three Accused Arrested

Dungra police registered a case under Sections 309(4), 309(6), 351(3) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The investigation was conducted under the supervision of Police Inspector B.N. Gohil, with separate teams examining CCTV footage from the incident site and nearby areas and carrying out technical analysis to identify the suspects.

The accused were identified as Shahbaz, 19, a resident of Karwad and originally from Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh; Zaheer Khan, 20, a labourer residing in Karwad and originally from Balrampur district in Uttar Pradesh; and Jawahar Yadav, 19, a student residing in Karwad and originally from Siddharthnagar district.

Police said the entire Rs 14,000 allegedly taken from the complainant was recovered.

Dating App Used to Lure Victims

The dating application involved in the case is a geolocation-based social networking platform for LGBTQ+ adults, allowing users to discover nearby profiles, chat and share photos, videos and voice messages.

Recent cases in several parts of India have highlighted allegations of victims being lured through dating applications to secluded locations for robbery or extortion.

In May, Bengaluru Police arrested four men after a 27-year-old engineer was allegedly attacked and robbed following contact with a person on the dating app. In March, Noida Police arrested three men accused of allegedly kidnapping and robbing people after luring them through the application.