Patna, Nov. 15: Beware of that pretty face promising you “sexual favours” for a meagre sum, especially when you have just walked out of an ATM kiosk.

Gangs, comprising mostly women, are on the hunt for men who can be trapped with “pleasure promises” and then blackmailed on molestation charge.

Today, a middleaged armyman, who fell into the gang’s trap, managed to save his money after some residents rushed to his help. Though the women could not be caught, the incident, the second in a month, has alarmed police.

The jawan, who is all set to join Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu on December 1, had arrived at Patna Junction this afternoon from Jehanabad.

“I am a gunner with the 113th field regiment in Patna now. I had come here to collect my documents,” the jawan told The Telegraph.

He lodged an FIR against two women and an auto driver at the Gandhi Maidan police station. In his complaint, the armyman said the two women approached him at Patna Junction after he withdrew Rs 7,000 from an ATM kiosk.

City central superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande said: “One among them was young, while the other one looked a little old. They said they were sex workers and offered the jawan their services for Rs 500. The man fell into the trap when the women told him he need not book a hotel room as they had a flat in the Twin Towers area under Gandhi Maidan police station. An auto was hired by the women and the man was made to sit in the middle.”

The officer said: “When the autorickshaw reached the Twin Towers area, the women asked the armyman to hand over whatever cash he had or else they would start shouting and accuse him of molesting them. The jawan became adamant and instead asked the two women to return the Rs 500 he had paid earlier. On this, the women started shouting, accusing him of molestation. A similar incident had taken place at the same spot on November 3 evening and according to the residents, the same women were involved in that incident. Some of the residents identified the women and rushed to help the man. Soon, more people joined them and the situation started to turn in favour of the armyman. Seeing their plan bomb, the women and the auto driver fled the spot,” the officer added.

On November 3, the women had targeted a youth, who too refused to pay up and a commotion followed, forcing the women to leave abruptly.

“The police now believe there is a gang, comprising mostly women, who target men who look to be from well-off families. Though there has been no police complaint earlier, we are sure the gang has been successful in extracting money from its earlier victims. Investigations have revealed there are more than one such gang which work in connivance with some autorickshaw drivers. Policemen in civil clothes will be placed in public places to catch the culprits,” Lande said.