Youth in gay dating app fraud robbed at Kolkata’s College Street market
Times of India | 13 January 2026
Kolkata: In a case of online gay dating fraud, a 21-year-old youth from Murshidabad was allegedly extorted of Rs 21,000, two gold rings and a silver chain after being confined for around four hours at Bornoporichoy Market off College Street on Jan 10, police said.
This is the seventh reported case of such fraud in the city in the past year, senior police officers said.
Md Rehman (30) of Shambhu Chatterjee Street was arrested in the case registred at Jorasanko Police Station (PS). Investigators said Rehman was operating the bank account that received the money transferred during the crime. Police said efforts were on to identify and arrest the remaining accused. According to the complaint, the victim had got acquainted to a man through a gay dating app and the two agreed to meet on Saturday night. He alleged that he met the man around 9 pm on the second floor of Bornoporichoy Market. While they were talking, two other men arrived around 12.15 am and began threatening him, the complaint stated.
The complainant alleged that the men demanded money and threatened to kill him if he would refuse to fulfil their demand. The victim was allegedly forced to make the payment through PhonePe, the complaint said.
Police said the case fits a pattern seen in multiple recent incidents in Kolkata and elsewhere in Bengal, where criminal groups allegedly use dating apps and other online platforms to contact gay and bisexual men by posing as potential partners and later rob and assault them.
Cops said they are examining digital trails, including the transaction details and app-based communications, to trace the other suspects.