A six-member gang including a couple, who were influencers on Instagram with more than 60,000 followers, was arrested on Tuesday, August 30 for honeytrapping a businessman and looting him. Devu (24), her husband Gokul Deep (29), Sharath (24), Ajit (20), Vinay (24), and Jishnu (20) were arrested by the Palakkad police.

Devu and Gokul run an Instagram page, Phoenix Couple, which is popular. According to police, Sharath hired Devu and Gokul to help him trap the industrialist. Sharath befriended the victim pretending to be a woman on social media. After hiring the couple, Devu started sending the victim voice messages. Police said that Devu convinced the industrialist that her husband is abroad and that they should meet at their house. To trap him, the gang hired a house in Yakkara. When the man came to meet Devu at this house, others including Sharath and Gokul gathered there in an apparent bid at moral policing.

According to the police, the gang snatched the man's gold chain of four sovereigns, money he had in his purse, credit cards, and his car. They tried to take him to Kodungallur to get more money from his account, but he managed to free himself from their clutches on the way and approached the police. He escaped from a place around 15 km away from Yakkara. He informed the police that the gang took photos of him and Devu together and threatened him to pay Rs 50 lakh. They planned to get the money from his card after taking him to Kodungalloor.

Police suspect that the gang might have trapped other people in a similar manner, but there are no complaints because the victims might be ashamed to reveal the incident. It was found that the gang had taken houses for rent at different places. 

Following the couple’s arrest, their social media page has been flooded with hate comments.