Surat cop’s lyrical warning on how to avoid honey trap

Surat: It is the social stigma associated with the indiscretion that scammers generally take advantage of in case of cheating that is associated with the ‘honey trap’. While the sugar coat wears off almost immediately in such clandestine deals, the bitterness of shame left behind is enough for the targeted men, mostly middle-aged, to rather satisfy the extortionists’ whims than get exposed to the police.However, a police sub-inspector, working with the cyber cell of

Khatodra

police, decided to tackle the menace with a lyrical twist — he wrote and sang a song n an animation video to sensitize people on how to deal with such a situation before getting trapped in the web of deceit.“Unknown request

aayega

aur jaal main tumhe fasayega...” — a song in PSI Chandrashekhar H

Panara

’s video shows the most common MO the extortionists use — to bait a target with an invitation for friendship by a girl in a seductive voice and how that opens

Pandora

’s box later.With proper lyrics and music, the video teaches gullible internet users not to fall for such scams, which is an open trap if they are not careful on social media. Through his song, the cop encourages the public to approach the police and not to entertain the demands of these scamsters.“While on duty, I came across many instances where people were befriended online by scammers posing as attractive, flirtatious women who even shared intimate videos, and then the nightmare began after the criminals dropped their mask and extorted money. In many of these cases, the victims tried to end the mess themselves by paying off just to hide the matter from their family and friends,” Panara told TOI.He further said that the song tries to tell the people to be careful and not to panic if one falls for such scams and immediately get police help.Panara, who joined the police force in 2010 after completing a master's in development communications, is trained in classical music and has

a Sangeet Visharad

(vocal) degree. He has also served with the state anti-terrorism squad. Before this video, he had also made another music video during the pandemic on Covid alertness along with other cops, which was highly appreciated by top officials.