Johannesburg - Gauteng police are investigating cases of kidnapping and other serious crimes following successfully rescuing a student who fell victim after being lured on the dating app Grindr.
Grindr is in the spotlight again: this time a University of Witwatersrand student aged 18 was kidnapped on what he thought was a date.
The student went missing on Tuesday in Johannesburg. His room-mate reported the matter, and it was discovered that he was kidnapped.
It is reported that he was lured by the suspects, who demanded R30 000 from his family for his safe return.
Gauteng SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said on Wednesday, the team, comprising members of Gauteng Crime Intelligence, Organised Crime Investigations, Hillbrow Detectives, Johannesburg Trio Detectives, Johannesburg Metro Police K9, security companies that included Vision Tactical, JT VIP, CAP Security, Fidelity Strategic Team, and Cellular Data Investigation, operationalised the information that led them to an ATM where one of the suspects was expected to withdraw the ransom money on the M2.
Muridili said the police held an observation and then placed the suspect under arrest as soon as he arrived.
“He then led the team to Denver Men’s Hostel, where the victim was found bound and unconscious. Six more suspects were arrested, and the victim was rushed to the hospital for medical attention,” said Muridili.
She said the team was investigating linking the suspects to cases in Gauteng with the same modus operandi.
“All seven will be charged with kidnapping and extortion, and they will be appearing before court soon,” she said.
When asked about the number of victims or cases of this nature under investigation, Muridili said this information was not readily available.
“Kidnappings are only registered as kidnappings. To determine how many were as a result of Grindr, there has to be an in-depth analysis of all the dockets for kidnappings.
“That needs an application for access to information,” said Muridili.
In February, The Star reported the arrest of four male suspects using the Grindr app, targeting members of the public based on their sexual orientation.
Police rescued a 26-year-old man who was chatting online with one of the suspects and was lured to an area where he was hijacked, kidnapped and robbed of his personal belongings, including bank cards.
The suspects proceeded to make several purchases with the victim’s bank cards. They are facing charges of hijacking, kidnapping, and extortion.
In March, The Star’s sister paper, the Cape Argus reported that LGBTQIA+ community organisation, OUT LGBT-Wellbeing (OUT), lifted the lid on the apparent targeting and attacks on the queer community through dating platforms.
OUT said that over the past few years, numerous members of the LGBTQIA+ community, predominantly gay, bisexual and other queer men reported having been entrapped through the use of dating apps like Grindr, Tinder and Ads Africa.
OUT strategic communications manager, Luiz De Barro, said while the reports have all surfaced from areas mainly in Gauteng, such as Johannesburg, Sandton, Randburg, Fourways, Soweto, Lenasia, and Ekurhuleni, it has heard of incidents taking place in other parts of the country.
The Star contacted Grindr via their help centre, but at the time of publication, there was no response.
The Star