A 26-year-old man was allegedly beaten and robbed by a man he befriended on an app and had invited to his house in an upmarket apartment complex in Bommanahalli. The accused and his associates allegedly kept him prisoner while they used his debit card to withdraw over ₹1 lakh from an ATM.

The victim stays in the flat with a friend. He had met the accused, Rahul, on the app. According to the police, he was alone at home when Rahul called seeking directions to his apartment. “He shared his location. Within minutes, Rahul came there, along with four men who barged into the apartment. They assaulted the complainant and forced him to reveal his ATM card PIN,” said the police.

Rahul sent one of his associates with the debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. Rahul remained in the flat along with his other associates, and they allegedly continued to assault the victim.

“The ordeal continued when the associate returned with a thousand rupees. Rahul allegedly forced the victim to call his friends and get them to transfer some money into his account. Fearing for his life, the victim did as he was told. When the money was credited, Rahul again sent his associate to withdraw the money from an ATM. In total, they withdrew ₹1.35 lakh from his account,” said the police.

The allegedly attack took place last week, and the complaint was filed on Tuesday.

According to the complainant, Rahul noted down his personal details and took a photo of his identity card. He threatened the victim with dire consequences if he approached the police.

Traumatised by the attack, the victim discussed the incident with his friends before approaching the Bandepalya police. Based on his complaint, the police have taken up a case of extortion, dacoity and trespass.

“We are verifying CCTV footage from the apartment and the ATM kiosk as well as tracking call record details,” said a senior police officer, who cautioned citizens against inviting people they meet on social media to their homes.