Two persons, including a woman, were arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly duping an aspiring actor by posing as TV serial producers and directors in southwest Delhi, an officer said on Saturday.
The cops said that the arrested, Tarun Shekhar Sharma, 32, originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, and Asha Singh, alias Bhawna, 29, a native of Delhi, have been booked in 20 more cases that are linked to similar cases across the country.
“The duo lured their targets through social media platforms on the pretext of giving them roles in popular TV serials and OTT shows. In the latest case, the complainant was duped of Rs 24 lakh,” said Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest).
The DCP added that the person came across the self-posing producers’ social media page, who were seeking newcomers for a TV show, and contacted them.
The complainant was asked for money on different pretexts, such as processing and membership charges. She found herself “blocked” after she transferred about Rs 24 lakh.
During the investigation, police followed the money trail and tracked the accused to a rented apartment in Bengaluru and arrested them.
Seven mobile phones, 10 SIM cards, 15 bank chequebooks and passbooks, eight ATM cards, and a pair of gold earrings found in their possession were seized, he added.
During the sustained interrogation, it emerged that the accused operated from different cities, frequently changing their locations to evade detection. They stayed in luxury hotels and lived lavishly, police said.
“They opened around 15 bank accounts and used multiple SIM cards issued from different states. The fraudsters even trained themselves through online videos,” the officer said.
The accused are also wanted in a case in Jammu and Kashmir and involved in several similar frauds in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, the DCP said.