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Fake bride racket busted in Sambhal: Kingpin, husband arrested for duping unmarried men of cash, jewellery
The arrests follow the exposure of at least five such cases in the Chandausi police station area, with police suspecting the gang’s operations extended to other regions as well.
Sambhal police have busted a gang that targeted unmarried men by trapping them into fake marriages and then fleeing with cash and jewellery, arresting the kingpin of the racket, her husband and one woman who posed as a bride to carry out the thefts.
The arrests follow the exposure of at least five such cases in the Chandausi police station area, with police suspecting the gang’s operations extended to other regions as well.
According to police, the arrested woman Kajal alias Noorjahan Khatoon is the mastermind of the “looting brides” gang. A resident of the Lal Bazaar police station area in West Bengal, Noorjahan had been living in the Chandausi region under a changed identity. She changed her name to Kajal after she married Rajiv, a resident of village Vilhat in Binawar police station area of Badaun district, a few years ago. Together, the couple allegedly orchestrated a series of frauds by arranging fake marriages for unmarried men and siphoning off valuables soon after.
The breakthrough in the case came due to the alertness of Raju, a resident of Patraua village near Chandausi, who himself fell victim to the gang.
Sambhal superintendent of police Krishan Kumar Bishnoi said that on January 21, just ten days after Raju’s wedding, the bride attempted to flee the house. Sensing foul play, Raju caught her and handed her over to the police.
During interrogation, the woman revealed her identity as Pooja alias Ayesha Khatoon. Based on the information she provided, police traced the racket. Pooja alias Ayesha, also a resident of West Bengal, was found to have cheated another person from Patraua village as well, whose relative resides in Moradabad.
SP Bishnoi said the gang deliberately targeted men who had been unable to get married. Large sums of money were collected from families in the name of arranging marriages, while the women sent as brides would stay briefly and then disappear with jewellery and cash worth lakhs of rupees. Besides Raju, four other households in the Chandausi area were similarly duped.
Investigators revealed that Kajal charged between ₹50,000 and ₹75,000 from victims to arrange marriages.
Mobile phones of both women and Rajiv have been seized, and data analysis is underway to trace other members of the gang. From the arrested trio, police recovered a gold chain, a ring, silver anklets, and ₹4,700 in cash. All three were produced before the court and sent to jail, while further investigation continues to uncover the full extent of the racket.
