MUMBAI: A model-cum-gym trainer, along with three accomplices, has been arrested for robbing a hotel executive, who is gay .

Claiming to be homosexual, the model contacted the executive on a website on Friday and exchanged numbers, deciding to meet at the latter’s flat in Santacruz (East) on Saturday around 3pm.

The model was in the executive’s bathroom when one of the accomplices knocked on the door and entered the flat. Claiming to be the model’s brother, he started screaming at the executive , accusing him of “spoiling” his brother’s life.

According to plan, the model came out of the bathroom, hearing arguments between his ‘brother’ and the executive. Just then, the other two accomplices entered the flat. To make it look real, all three started to assault the executive and also the model for bringing disrepute to their family.

The told the executive to pay Rs 1 lakh and asked him to remove his clothes so that they could click a nude picture of him with the model as ‘proof’. They threatened to report to the police that he was gay and had “violated” the Indian Penal Code’s section 377 (unnatural sex). One of them took the executive to a nearby ATM, but there was no money in the account. So the executive was made to borrow Rs 25,000 from a colleague who stayed nearby. They assaulted the executive and left with Rs 25,000, a laptop and a tablet. They also told him to arrange for Rs 75,000 more.

The executive discussed the matter with a friend and decided to approach the police. With the help of Aam Aaadmi Party (AAP) activists, he filed a case at the Vakola police station on Monday morning. The police registered his complaint and arrested the accused when they came to the executive’s flat to collect the remaining amount.

“We suspect that the accused has committed similar offences and are inquiring about it,” said senior police inspector Vinayak Mule of the Vakola police station.

The executive, who is 37, is a member of a website that is frequently visited by members of the homosexual community.

