A 33-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly posing as a casting director and cheating over 100 women with fake audition calls for upcoming Bollywood films.
A senior police officer on Saturday said the accused, Sunny Kumar Verma, a resident of Haridwar, Uttarakhand, primarily lured people through fake posts inviting auditions on his Instagram account ‘sunnycasting’.
“Over 100 women had contacted him, shared details and paid him ‘security deposits’. Further investigation is underway,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Guriqbal Singh Sidhu said.
The arrest was made based on a woman’s complaint at the Rohini cyber police station on May 12, accusing Mr. Verma of duping her of over ₹20,000.
According to the complaint, after coming across one of Mr. Verma’s posts, the woman contacted him and shared her photos and details on April 16. He then sent her a ‘contract’ for a film ‘Elaan 2’ and sought a deposit of ₹13,500, after which she paid the sum and got a confirmation from the accused.
On April 29, the accused contacted her again about a role in a film ‘Jee Le Zara’ and demanded ₹9,800 as deposit, read the complaint. “However, after the woman paid this amount, she did not get a confirmation. On May 10, the accused blocked her on WhatsApp and Instagram,” the officer said.
Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR under IPC Section 420 (cheating) and began an investigation. “Using technical surveillance and call detail record analysis, the accused was arrested from Rohini on Friday,” the DCP said.
Interrogation of the accused revealed that he had organised several events in the past attended by Bollywood celebrities, Mr. Sidhu added. “He would post photos with these celebrities on his Instagram account. During COVID, he incurred losses. To maintain a lavish lifestyle, he started luring young women with Bollywood film offers. He has 62,000 followers on social media.”
