Police said 11 people were arrested for allegedly luring victims through prostitution advertisements on an app and then robbing them in HBR Layout. Bengaluru City Police urged the public not to respond to such illegal online advertisements and said the probe is on.
Eleven persons have been arrested for allegedly robbing people after luring them to a specific location using prostitution advertisements on an app, Bengaluru Police said on Saturday.
The matter came to light when a Whitefield resident approached the Central Crime Branch’s Women Protection Squad on July 16 and filed a complaint, they said.
The complainant stated that he had come across online advertisements published on a classifieds app. As he responded to the advertisement, certain individuals sent him a live location and instructed him to come to the specific place, police said.
According to police, when the complainant reached the specified location at HBR Layout, some persons showed him two women seated in an autorickshaw and negotiated the payment “for providing sexual services”.
Subsequently, they forcibly snatched the complainant’s cash and mobile phone before fleeing from the spot, a senior police officer said.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered at K G Halli Police Station, police said.
“During the investigation, the officers of the CCB Women Protection Squad conducted inquiries from various angles and, on July 17, they apprehended 11 persons from different locations in HBR Layout,” he said.
The police also seized two autorickshaws, four two-wheelers, 13 mobile phones, and cash used in the commission of the offence.
“During interrogation, the accused confessed that they had brought women from other states to Bengaluru, arranged accommodation for them at various locations, uploaded their photographs on the app, and contacted prospective customers through the mobile numbers mentioned in the advertisements,” the officer said.
