Forget love, man loses all money to 'gay friend'

Piyush (not his real name) had wished to find love when he shared his phone number on a gay dating app. He's now left with neither love nor money.

On Tuesday night, a gang of three barged into his Bommanahalli flat, beat him mercilessly and snatched his phone, wallet and the ATM card. They forced him into revealing his ATM PIN and withdrew Rs 1.35 lakh. One of the men was one Rahul, whom Piyush knew through the gay dating app.

Rahul had called him up and wished to meet him. Piyush invited him over. But Rahul was a different man when he showed up. All he wanted was money.

An angry Piyush asked him to leave but Rahul not only refused but also called two of his friends over. Soon, the three men pinned Piyush to the ground and snatched his wallet, phone and the ATM card. They beat him into disclosing the ATM PIN. One of them left to withdraw cash from the ATM but returned with three more people.

Together, the five men forced Piyush to call up his friends and request them to transfer money to a bank account. The gang went out and returned with Rs 1.35 lakh sent by his friends. They took his company ID card and forced him to say on camera that he didn't call anyone. The gang left only after warning him against disclosing the matter to anyone.

Piyush has, however, lodged a complaint at the Bandepalya police. An investigating officer quoted Piyush as saying that he didn't know much about the gang and that he had come in contact with them only through the app. The officer further said that they were reviewing the CCTV footage of Piyush's flat and the ATM from where the money was withdrawn to identify the gang.