Hindu woman lured, brainwashed, blackmailed and extorted by Muslim gym trainer in Surat, Ahmedabad

Case ID : 30a7cfa | Location : Surat, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 13 April, 2026

Case ID : 30a7cfa

Surat, Gujarat, India

13 April, 2026

Hindu woman lured, brainwashed, blackmailed and extorted by Muslim gym trainer in Surat, Ahmedabad

Undecided cases

One sided obsession with Hindu woman

Case Summary

In Surat, Gujarat, a Hindu woman from a high-profile family was trapped and blackmailed by a Muslim gym trainer identified as Shabbir Azgar Trunkwala. The woman had first come into contact with the accused around seven years earlier, when she had joined Pooja L1 Gym in the City Light area, where he was employed as a trainer. During this period, the accused developed contact with her and gradually established a personal relationship. Over time, the accused continued to maintain contact with the woman and also began stalking her, frequently loitering near her residence on his motorcycle. The matter escalated around seven months before the complaint, when the accused went to the woman’s residence in the Pal area of Surat. When confronted by the woman’s husband, the accused threatened him by stating that he possessed the woman’s private photographs and videos from previous trips. He demanded ₹5 lakh and threatened to make the material public and circulate it in the media if the amount was not paid. Approximately two to three months before the arrest, another incident took place near Bhulka Bhavan School in Adajan. The accused intercepted the husband, broke the mirror of his motorcycle, and used a sharp shard of glass to threaten him. During this confrontation, he forcibly took ₹50,000 in cash and continued demanding the remaining amount. Following continued threats and extortion, the woman’s husband approached the police and lodged a formal complaint at Pal Police Station. In response to the complaint, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Surat Police arrested the accused and initiated legal proceedings. Police stated that the accused had misused the trust developed during the woman’s gym visits and had used her private photographs and videos to threaten, stalk, and extort money from the family. The police also began examining whether there were any similar complaints or additional victims linked to the accused. The case came to light nearly a month after Surat Police had conducted an awareness meeting with gym owners and trainers regarding complaints of harassment and the need to maintain professional boundaries with clients.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The present case has been placed under the Undecided category as, while it involves serious allegations of exploitation, blackmail, and misuse of trust by the accused, there are no clear or explicit religious markers at this stage to establish that the crime was motivated by the victim’s Hindu identity. The interaction between the accused and the victim began in a professional setting and gradually developed into a personal equation over time. The subsequent acts of stalking, blackmail, and extortion appear to stem from the accused’s attempt to exploit this prior relationship and the private material obtained during it. While the accused is identified as Muslim and the victim as Hindu, the available facts do not indicate that religious identity was used as a tool of access, manipulation, or coercion in this instance. At the same time, it is important to view this case alongside other documented instances in the tracker. In the Dharwad case, a gym trainer was found to be selectively targeting Hindu women, indicating identity-based targeting within a similar professional environment. In the Mirzapur case, multiple gym trainers operated in a coordinated manner to befriend Hindu women, exploit them, and subsequently use blackmail to pressure them towards conversion. These cases establish a pattern where professional spaces like gyms are used to build access, followed by exploitation linked to religious identity. While the present case shares certain structural similarities—such as initial contact through a gym setting, development of personal proximity, and later exploitation—it currently lacks the additional elements seen in those cases, such as selective targeting based on religion, concealment of identity, or explicit pressure for religious conversion. As such, the available evidence does not conclusively establish a religious motive at this stage. The acts described—blackmail using private material, financial extortion, and intimidation—are undoubtedly grave criminal offences. However, based on current information, they appear to be driven by personal exploitation rather than demonstrable religious targeting. Therefore, in the absence of clear indicators such as identity-based targeting, religious coercion, or conversion-linked pressure, the case has been added to the Undecided database. While parallels with previously documented cases warrant attention, classification must remain evidence-based. Should further information emerge establishing a religious dimension to the crime, the case will be reassessed and updated accordingly. Disclaimer: The exact date on which the victim’s ordeal began was not specified in the available report. The Hinduphobia Tracker recorded incident dates based on when the crime occurred or when the victim’s ordeal began, rather than when it was reported in the media. Since the precise commencement date was unavailable, the report's publication date was used as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes only.