Delhi Police have arrested a cafe owner and manager after a student was allegedly kept inside a Hudson Lane establishment and forced to pay a ₹26,000 bill following a meeting arranged through a dating app, officials said on November 4.
The incident was reported at the Black Panther Cafe near GTB Nagar Metro station in north-west Delhi. Police said the complainant, identified as Zaid Ahmed from Bihar’s West Champaran district, met a woman on a dating app on November 1. The woman introduced herself as Sanya and asked him to meet her for a blind date between 6:30 pm and 7 pm near the metro station.
According to the police account, the woman took Ahmed to the cafe and ordered several expensive food and drink items, including whisky. She allegedly left after eating and drinking, while cafe staff handed Ahmed a handwritten bill of approximately ₹26,000.
Police said Ahmed objected to the bill and told the staff that he could not pay. The cafe owner and employees allegedly prevented him from leaving, pressured him to make the payment and threatened him when he resisted. Ahmed then contacted his father, who transferred the money online to the cafe staff. He was released after the payment was made, police said.
The woman allegedly switched off her mobile phone and could not be contacted after leaving the cafe. Ahmed’s father subsequently called the police control room, following which a case was registered at the Mukherjee Nagar police station under Section 308(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to extortion, and Section 3(5), relating to common intention, according to the report.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Akanksha Yadav said police reached the cafe after receiving information that a man was being held and that ₹26,000 was being demanded. Police arrested cafe owner Javed, 38, and manager Anuj Kumar, 24. Both are residents of Ghaziabad and had no previous criminal record, police said.
Investigators are searching for the woman, whom police identified as Sanya alias Nikita. Police are also examining whether the accused were operating an extortion racket together and whether other people may have been targeted in a similar manner. The investigation remains under way.
