Honey trap & extortion case: Murder charges slapped on member of the gang in UP’s Bareilly

The court of additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM), Bareilly on Tuesday added murder charge in honey trap and extortion case that came to light after the arrest of a woman who was part of a gang that lured and targeted doctors, army personnel and government servants, police said on Wednesday.

Bareilly deputy superintendent of police, Raj Kumar Mishra, said ACJM, Ravi Kumar Diwakar took cognisance of the incident when the case investigation officer, sub-inspector, Virendra Singh moved a request to increase suicide abetment charge under IPC section 306 against the accused. He said the court has directed to investigate the case considering it as a murder.

“The charges are added on the court’s direction, but further investigation will decide whether these charges will stand or not. Police should get proper evidence to prove charges of murder in the case,” he emphaised.

An Ayurveda medical practitioner Dr AS Chauhan had died due to alleged pressure tactics created by those involved in honey trap and extortion racket.

Subsequently, the court considered the doctor’s death as murder and decided to increase charges and initiate further legal proceedings under the same.

Dr Chauhan’s family members too alleged that he was under intense mental stress as he was being blackmailed by the gang and which led to his death.

After seven months of investigation in FIR lodged by Dr AS Chauhan on December 4, 2022, Bareilly’s Subash Nagar police arrested a woman identified as Himani Sharma (22) on July 20 and said her arrest led to busting of an all-women gang that trapped potential clients.

Bareilly senior superintendent of police (SSP) Prabhakar Chowdhary said the woman, who is now arrested, hailed from Badaun and based on leads provided by her, more arrests would be made.

He said the deceased doctor had lodged the FIR against one Priya Gangwar, her boss and two men. A case had been registered under IPC sections 420 (fraud), 342 (wrongful confinement), 384 (extortion), 504 (insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

“Police later found that the woman who called herself Priya Gangwar was in fact Himani Sharma. After her arrest, she made startling revelations about being a member of a well-organised honeytrap and extortion gang operated by a middle-aged woman whom she referred to as ‘mausi’. The extortion gang mostly had women though there were some male members too,” the case investigation officer said.

The officer also said that ‘mausis’real name is Madhu and along with Himani alone she had extorted over ₹9 lakh from seven persons including the ayurveda practitioner, an MBBS doctor, two army personnel, a government department clerk, a contractor and a businessman in last three years, said the police official.

He said it was suspected that there were over two dozen similar cases of extortion committed by the gang and further efforts were on to trace the gang leader as well as its other members.

Last August, the Allahabad high court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe allegations of honey trap gangs operating in Prayagraj and its adjoining districts. Members of such gangs often file false cases of rape and crimes under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, against their victims and blackmail them to pay up to get the complaints withdrawn, the officials said. As many as 51 such cases were listed before the court then. Besides, a similar case involving a lawyer emerged in Lucknow in 2020.