Delhi: 35-year-old held for duping over 100 women from 13 states of ₹1 crore
The man was arrested on Thursday during an investigation into a complaint by a woman doctor at AIIMS who was allegedly duped of ₹15 lakh
New Delhi: A 35-year-old man, who drove around in a luxury car and stayed in luxury hotels, was arrested from a Paharganj hotel for allegedly duping over 100 women from across 13 states of nearly ₹1 crore on the pretext of marriage, with police saying that he approached the women through matrimonial sites.
Police identified the accused as Farhan Taseer Khan, a Chhattisgarh native living in Odisha, and said that he was arrested on Thursday by a team from the south district’s cyber cell police station during an investigation into a complaint by a woman doctor at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) who was allegedly duped of ₹15 lakh using the same modus operandi. According to police, Khan is already married and has a three-year-old daughter.
Police said they have recovered the luxury car (with a Chhattisgarh special series number plate), nine debit cards and an expensive wrist watch from Khan, said deputy commissioner of police (south) Benita Mary Jaiker.
In her complaint, the doctor alleged that she met Khan on a matrimonial site, and subsequently started talking to each other on social media and on the phone.
After promising to marry the woman, Khan allegedly convinced her to pay ₹15 lakh, over several transactions, to support his fake business, after which he started ignoring her calls and messages.
On receiving the woman’s complaint, the cyber cell team collected Khan’s details from the matrimonial site and learned that he had created scores of fake profiles on such sites and communicated with women from Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, Karnataka and many other states.
Police said the details provided by the matrimonial sites and banks transactions helped the police track and arrest Khan from Paharganj.
“Khan confessed to have duped over 100 women to the tune of around ₹1 crore in the past one and a half years. We are trying to find out if more women had filed complaints against him in other states,” said the DCP.
During questioning, Jaiker said, Khan allegedly revealed that he married in 2015 and already has a three-year-old daughter. Between 2010 and 2018, he worked as a contractor at construction sites in Odisha, police said, adding that his business flourished during this time and he even bought two earthmovers.
However, in 2018, his mother was detected with cancer, following which he sold the two earthmovers to bear the expenses for treatment. He later started the business of sale and purchase of used cars.
Around a year and a half ago, Jaiker said, Khan started creating fake profiles on matrimonial sites and approached women posing as a rich, unmarried businessman. Khan also allegedly told potential victims that his parents died in a road accident and left behind huge assets for him.
Police said that Khan used to meet the women in the luxury car and even took them for drives to gain their trust.
“Khan also mentioned on the matrimonial sites that he held Bachelor of Engineering and MBA degrees and has businesses and houses in big cities. He claimed his yearly income was between ₹30-40 lakh,” added DCP Jaiker.