Bengaluru:
The Bengaluru railway police arrested a 45-year-old man on Wednesday for allegedly cheating over 250 women whom he befriended on matrimonial sites and social media platforms, they said.
The police said they have identified the accused as Naresh Pujari Goswami, a native of Rajasthan who has been living in the city for the past 20 years. He created fake profiles on matrimonial sites and social media platforms and lured women and their families into paying him.
The police said the accused created profiles online using young men’s photos and posed as a customs official and software engineer.
“It has come to light that the accused has cheated a total of 259 women in over 10 states. He posed as a customs official at the airport or a software engineer. Then he invited them to Bengaluru for marriage discussions. After their arrival, he told them that he would. send his uncle to receive them as he had urgent work at the office. Then, using another phone number, he met the woman or her family at the railway station and pretended to be the uncle. Later, he used to go at a distance from them after making an excuse and called up the victims using his previous phone number. He would request that the woman or her family give ₹5,000– ₹10,000 to his uncle, as he had to book railway tickets for his family on an urgent basis so that the families could meet. The man, pretending to be the uncle then, disappeared from the scene on the pretext of giving the money, and promised to return shortly. Soon, the accused switched off both his phone numbers,” said SD Sharanappa, deputy inspector general of police (DIGP), Bengaluru railways police.
The railway police started investigating the case after a victim from Coimbatore registered a complaint on February 23. According to the police, Goswami targeted widows and divorced women. The police said that he texted and spoke to women late at night and gained their trust before inviting them to Bengaluru.
{{/usCountry}}The railway police started investigating the case after a victim from Coimbatore registered a complaint on February 23. According to the police, Goswami targeted widows and divorced women. The police said that he texted and spoke to women late at night and gained their trust before inviting them to Bengaluru.
{{/usCountry}}“The family of a woman from Coimbatore filed a complaint alleging that the man cheated them of ₹10,000. We started investigating the case, and arrested him from the railway station. So far, we have recorded the statements of 16 victims, and we expect more complaints after the news of the fraud spreads. We have booked him under sections IPC 419 and 420 (cheating),‘’ said railway police inspector Santhosh M Patil.