Thane Police Arrest Film Producer and Model for Defrauding 30 Women of Over Rs 1 Crore | Representative Image
Thane: The cyber cell of the Mumbra police arrested a Bhojpuri film producer and his associate for allegedly duping 30 to 40 women under the pretext of marriage proposals and busted a call center that sent requests and later cheated them in Lucknow, where they operated.
The accused have been identified as Ejaj Ahmad Imitiyaz Ahmad, alias Fahad, 32, a resident of Lucknow, and Zaid Phul Khan, a model, resident of Bhopal. Fahad, who runs a call center in Lucknow, and his staff worked here and sent requests to women online to chat with them.
On October 10, the victim from Thane, who filed a case against a man who duped her of Rs 13 lakh under the pretext of a marriage proposal. They met through website. Following this, the victim realized that she had been duped by him. Subsequently, a case was led by Nitin Pagar, the police inspector.
The police took details of the accused from concerned websites about the account holder who duped her. Based on technical intelligence, they traced Faiz’s location in Bhopal and arrested him on January 9. He was produced in court and remanded in police custody for further investigation.
During the interrogation, he revealed the identity of the main accused, Fahad. Based on the tower’s location, a team of police was dispatched to Lucknow. They learned that the accused Fahad had a 2500 square foot office and ran a call center. The team laid a trap outside the office building.
Meanwhile, the accused Fahad arrived in his Thar vehicle. He learned that the police were there to apprehend him. He started his vehicle and fled the scene. Thereafter, after chasing him for five to six kilometers on the Lucknow-Barabanki Highway, Fahad was arrested by the police.
The police said that during the investigation, they learned that the call center used to create fake accounts and sent requests to establish a good relationship with them. Later, they sent gifts and informed them that they had looted their money by claiming that customs duties had not been paid yet.
The accused, Fahad, has his own website WWW.Xoxo.com, which is a type of honeytrap site. The use of this site is to trap people by sending obscene videos and photos, and later they tell them to nude themselves. They then use their nude photos and videos to extort money from them by threatening to defame them after sharing it.
The police seized nine laptops, routers, suspicious items, and other equipment. Further investigation is underway. The investigating officer said that so far, 30 to 40 women have been duped over of Rs 1 crore.
