The Palghar Police in Maharashtra arrested a man who allegedly duped multiple women by luring them into marriage and robbing them of their valuables. According to the police, the man, identified as Firoz Niyazi Sheikh, has robbed more than 20 women of their money and jewellery.
The incident came to light after one of the victims lodged a complaint against the accused at the Nalasopara police station.
The accused allegedly created fake online profiles and mostly targeted widowed women, the police said, reported PTI. Sheikh then met these women through online websites and disappeared after extracting large amounts of money from them.
How did police nab the accused?
When the police first began the investigation, they did not have any photos or contact numbers of the accused, as he frequently changed his phone number. However, the police used Sheikh's tactic to nab him.
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According to officials, they created a fake woman's profile on an online platform and contacted him. After building up the conversation with Sheikh, the police, under the pretext of being a woman, called him to meet in Kalyan and arrested him.
{{/usCountry}}According to officials, they created a fake woman's profile on an online platform and contacted him. After building up the conversation with Sheikh, the police, under the pretext of being a woman, called him to meet in Kalyan and arrested him.
{{/usCountry}}The police recovered ₹three lakh from the accused. They also seized women's ATMs, chequebooks, six mobile phones, laptops, and documents, along with gold and silver jewellery, reported PTI.
On Saturday, the accused was presented in court, where he was remanded to custody for two days.
Further investigation is underway.
In another incident in March this year, a Ludhiana resident's wife duped him of lakhs in lieu of a spouse visa to the United Kingdom. According to the police, the accused told the victim, identified as Surjit, that she had cleared IELTS, but her family did not have the money needed to send her abroad. She further promised them a spouse visa for Surjit if they bear the expenses of sending her abroad.
However, after moving abroad, the woman stopped taking the victim's calls and snapped all ties with him.