The accused allegedly used pictures of foreigner men and used names such as Nirman and Ryan, a police officer said
Picture used for representational purpose only
The Pune police crime branch arrested a 28-year-old man for threatening and trying to dupe women on online dating sites. According to a statement issued by Unit 2 of the crime branch, the accused has been identified as Sandeep Jagannath Dharmak of Thergaon in Pimpri.
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According to a report in Hindustan Times, the police were investigating two cases of online stalking and harassment against him. However, after the arrest, Dharmak confessed that he tried to dupe at least 10 women.
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Senior inspector Mahendra Jagtap of Unit 2 said, "There were two previous cases on record and two new cases. However, he confessed to duping 10-12 women. Not all of them have registered complaints. Only one of them had paid him Rs 3,000, but the others blocked him."
Police officials said the accused has studied till Class 12 and works at a mobile repair shop. He told the women he met online that he worked as a manager at a massage parlour and initiated a conversation with them, a police officer said.
The accused allegedly used pictures of foreign men and used names such as Nirman and Ryan. After winning the trust of women, he would ask for their pictures and later used the chats and pictures to ask for money, the officer added.
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A case under Sections 354(d) (stalking), 507, 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act is registered against him at Bharati Vidyapeeth police station, while another case under similar sections is registered at Vimantal police station.
There is also a similar case registered against him at the cyber police station in 2020 and another registered at Lashkar police station in 2015. The accused was produced in court on Friday and remanded to police custody.
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