The Cyber Crime Wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested yet another man for conning divorcees. The man met the women through a well-known marriage portal and promised to marry them. The culprit posed as a businessman to lure his victims, stating that they would settle in the United States.
Only a few days after the arrest of Chakravathy alias Tamilselvan alias Vidyuth (27), of Villupuram, who cheated 16 women — who were looking for prospective grooms on a Bharat Matrimony website — of gold jewellery and cash , the CCB team has cracked down on a similar modus operandi, with the suspect operating from Mumbai.
According to CCB sources, the suspect, Aamir Khan alias Asif Khan alias Feroz from Jogeshwari, Mumbai, is an MBA graduate, who was running a travel agency. When the business failed, he became a stock broker and later worked as a receptionist at a Mumbai hotel.
Feroz got married in 2004, after finding his match through a marriage portal. But the couple divorced in 2009. Facing failure in his personal and professional life, Feroz decided to make money by targeting women, divorcees and widows in particular, who posted their profiles on marriage portals, sources said.
“He browsed through the website, ‘shaadi.com’, and picked his first victim, a divorcee from Karnataka. He posed as a businessman dealing in CCTV cameras and promised to marry her. Feroz gained her trust after conversing with her for months. She came to Mumbai, where he faked a marriage registration process with the assistance of an advocate,” M. Sudhakar, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, CCB said.
Feroz then abandoned the girl in a hotel and fled with her jewellery and cash. He then searched for his next victim on the website and found a woman software professional from Triplicane, whom he cheated in similar fashion towards the end of May, 2012, Mr. Sudhakar said
Following a complaint lodged by the woman from Chennai, the Cyber Crime Wing registered a case. Investigations led the police team to a hotel in Seshadripuram, Bangalore, where Feroz was residing with a woman from Gujarat. Feroz was arrested on Friday and his laptop and mobile phones were seized. He was brought to Chennai, while the girl was rescued and her jewellery of five sovereigns and Rs. 50,000, which Feroz had planned to flee with, was handed over to her, CCB sources said.
