DCP Madhapur Dr. G Vineeth along with Madhapur police inspector G. Mallesh and others addressing a press meet on the arrest of seven gang members in the Mosh Pub dating app scam case on June 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Lavpreet Kaur
A gang of seven has been arrested from Nagpur in Maharashtra for planning and executing the dating scam where men were lured on dates to a shady pub and a bill was racked up running into tens of thousands in Hyderabad. Cyberabad’s Madhapur police said they have written to dating app admins to run checks on the IDs and take action against people creating fake IDs.
Akash Kumar (27), Suraj Kumar (23), Akshat Narula (23), Tarun (30), Shiv Raj Nayak (27), Rohit Kumar (19), all from Delhi along with Manager of Mosh Club Cherkupally Sai Kumar have been arrested by the police. A case has been booked and further investigation is under way to see if the men are a part of a bigger racket busted earlier in cities such as Delhi and Pune.
The management of the pub – including Managing Director Barupati Tharun and Directors Ganta Jagadish and Navodaya have also been booked and the licence of the pub has been cancelled.
“The scam was used to con 50-60 young men to the tune of ₹30 lakh over six weekends from April 17- May 30,” Madhapur DCP Dr. G. Vineeth said. Of this, about ₹16-20 lakh was given to the pub management while the remaining amount was shared between them.
“The gang targeted dull clubs and pubs in metro cities with low ratings and proposed an offer to increase profits and footfall. After the management would agree, they worked for a period of 1.5 months in every city and were on to the next one — Nagpur — when the police nabbed them,” the official further explained.
Six girls have also been booked who were going on ‘dates ‘with the men, however they are yet to be questioned. The girls, mostly from the North Indian States, were brought in by the men on April 16 and stayed at Sri Sai Residence at RTC Crossroads. They were given 10% of the profit. “We will be questioning them to see if they were a part of the gang or were victims. The sections could also change if girls are minors,” the official said.
The police have seized swipe machines, QR codes for online payments and menu cards, which were used only for the ‘couples on dates’. “The gang had printed different menu cards with limited items at a much higher price. Moreover, they collected bills in separate accounts and not in the name of Mosh Pub. They served cheap beverages on the name of expensive liquor and made significant profits there,” the official further explained.
