Matched On Tinder, Lost Rs 52 Lakh: How A Haryana Female Judge Was Honeytrapped By A Man Posing As Secret Govt Officer

Even the best of judicial minds can fall into the honeytrap scams. A female judge in Haryana, according to reports, was allegedly scammed of more than 52 lakh in a suspected honeytrap mission on a dating app. The man who matched the judge on Tinder claimed that he was working in a secret government department and introduced himself as Abhimanyu Vashishth. The judge, however, did not file the complaint herself; instead, it was filed in the name of her domestic help. The complaint claimed that she was cheated on an online dating app. The manner in which the complaint was filed has raised questions.

According to the plea, the judge matched with the online duper in November.  The police arrested the accused and sent him to judicial custody.  

Hearing the plea, a Delhi court denied bail to the accused. The accused cajoled the judge to invest funds with the promise of heavy returns. During this time, the judge transferred over 53 lakhs to the bank accounts of the accused. Suspicion was raised when the investment returns did not materialize. The judge then realized that she had been cheated.

After the accused was denied bail, he approached the sessions court. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler, while hearing the plea, found that the transactions had been made from the bank accounts of the judge instead of the domestic help as claimed in the original plea. The court noted that the judge chose to seek relief indirectly by registering the case in the name of her helper rather than herself. The Judge said that such action can arise from the fear of embarrassment. The judge, however, said that the concerns of embarrassment can not override the need for a complete and transparent investigation.

The judge criticized the accused Abhimanyu for hiding the details related to the case. The judge noted that the accused had produced a message selectively. The court called the actions of the as “hide and seek.” The court directed the investigators to obtain complete Tinder and WhatsApp chats and verify the meeting between the two. 

The judge also came down heavily against the investigators, highlighting the gaps in the probe. According to reports, the investigators had not retrieved the Tinder chats where the two connected. Even the WhatsApp chat between the two was not secured. The reports also claim that records of call details were not collected by the investigation officers.

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