A young man named Sujal Sunil Mankar, who was 21 years old, sadly took his own life at a metro station in Pune on February 24, 2025.
Before this happened, he was being blackmailed by some people he met on a dating app called Grindr. They tricked him and recorded some private videos of him, which they used to ask him for money. Sujal gave them Rs 35,500 but when he couldn't pay them anymore, he felt very sad and overwhelmed, which led him to make a terrible choice.
After Sujal's father told the police what happened, they caught three young men named Pranav Shinde, Nitin Patil, and Lopesh Patil. These three are students at DY Patil College.
The police found out that these men were also involved in other similar cases where they tricked other people on dating apps.
The cybercrime team of Pune Police is still looking for other people who were part of this group. They want to hear from anyone else who might've been hurt by these bad people.
The police are trying to help and keep everyone safe. They want everyone to know that if they come forward, their names will be kept secret.
This case shows how important it's to be careful online and to know that some people may try to take advantage of others on the internet.
