E-Paper
Man held for duping Bhopal woman of ₹65 lakh in Noida after matrimonial match
A 32-year-old man was arrested for fraud and rape after allegedly duping a woman of ₹65 lakh via a matrimonial site, targeting multiple victims.
A 32-year-old man was arrested by police and booked under charges of fraud and rape on Friday for allegedly duping a 35-year-old woman of ₹65 lakh after meeting her through a matrimonial website last year, said police, adding that the suspect was also in touch with around 20 women through matrimonial websites.
The suspect is a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan. He separated from his wife in August last year, said police. On June 16, a woman from Bhopal, who works as an engineer at a multinational company in Noida, approached Sector 58 police station and filed a complaint alleging that she met the suspect through a matrimonial website and they started living together. He allegedly siphoned off ₹65 lakh using her mobile phone without her knowledge, said police.
“He blocked messages on the victim’s mobile phone. Around eight to ten days ago, when the suspect suddenly disappeared and switched off his mobile phone, the woman realised that she was duped after the bank approached her to pay installments,” said Sector 58 Station House Officer (SHO), Amit Kumar.
“With the help of electronic surveillance, we traced the suspect on Friday and arrested him near Sector 55,” said SHO Kumar.
Police said he invested around ₹42 lakh in cryptocurrency, ₹3.74 lakh was withdrawn from ATMs for personal use, and around ₹28 lakh was spent at hotels, pubs, and other places in Goa, Karnataka, and other tourist locations.
Explaining his modus operandi, additional deputy commissioner of police, Sumit Shukla, said he used to target divorced women through matrimonial websites. ‘He informed them that he took voluntary retirement from a central government job and promised to settle with them. He duped them after accessing their mobile phones and on the pretext of asking for financial help related to family commitments. It was revealed that currently he was in contact with around 20 women. We are also investigating his previous crime records to check how many women were duped by him in the past,” said Addl. DCP Shukla.
Police said efforts are underway to recover the money of the complainant and a case under sections of 318 (cheating), 63 (rape), and 351 (criminal intimidation) was registered against him at Sector 58 police station.
