The victim failed to get his complaint registered at the local police station in January, and, thereafter, approached Ukrande and his NGO. (File Photo)The Pune police have registered an FIR against a group of unidentified men for allegedly blackmailing a 24-year-old gay man to pay Rs 1.09 lakh between August last year and January this year after befriending him on a dating application.The First Information Report was registered after Anil Ukrande, Shruti Mori, and Vaidehi Varhade of YUTAK LGBTQ Trust met Ranjankumar Sharma, Joint Commissioner of Police, and raised the issue.Speaking to The Indian Express, Ukrande said, “The young man, who works in the IT sector, had fallen into the trap… One accused had picked up the victim from Kharadi in his car and once they travelled out of Pune, around three to four other men boarded the car. The group threatened to disclose the sexuality of the man to his parents and at his workplace if he did not give them money.”The accused also threatened to kill the victim if he disclosed the incident to anyone. The victim failed to get his complaint registered at the local police station in January, and, thereafter, approached Ukrande and his NGO.“We asked him to write a complaint to the commissioner of police in this regard. However, no action was taken following which we approached the joint commissioner to seek his help,” Ukrande said.Ukrande said they have noticed an increase in the number of cases of gay men being targeted through dating apps. “In some cases, the victim is scared to approach the police and approach us instead,” he added.Multiple cases have been reported in Pune in the past in which people have been attacked, blackmailed, sexually abused, and robbed by persons they had met on various dating applications. Last month, another Pune man was attacked and robbed of his gold chain by a suspect whom he befriended on a dating app for LGBTQ persons. The Pune police subsequently arrested two suspects in the case.Story continues below this adA police officer, who recently investigated such a case, said, “Probes suggest that these suspects register on the dating application only for the purpose of targeting people in this manner. In many cases, people are afraid of coming forward with complaints, especially in the cases of LGBTQ dating applications.”“We are making an appeal to people to exercise caution while using the dating application, especially while meeting people in person. We are also urging people to come forward and report these crimes so that the perpetrators can be caught,” the officer added.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:pune