Jhansi: In a major crackdown, the cyber crime cell and Nawabad police busted a fake online marriage bureau allegedly targeting middle-aged men seeking matrimonial alliances and arrested 11 people, including the alleged masterminds. The callers allegedly lured victims by sharing AI-generated photographs of women posing as prospective brides and collected registration fees ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 on the pretext of arranging marriages.Police recovered jewellery and electronic gadgets worth nearly Rs 9 lakh and traced suspicious financial transactions of around Rs 41 lakh linked to the racket.Addressing the media on Thursday, ACP Areeba Nomaan said the racket was being operated from a rented house in Rai Colony under the Nawabad police station area. The premises belonged to one Sunil Rai.According to the ACP, the alleged kingpin, Haldhar Sahu (27), along with his associate Sahil Sahu (21), both natives of Janjgir-Champa district in Chhattisgarh, had been running the fraudulent enterprise under the name ‘Shadi Sansthan Dotcom’ for the past four years. The duo had allegedly learnt the modus operandi in their native state before shifting operations to Jhansi.Police said the accused had employed several local women on a monthly salary of Rs 6,000 to contact middle-aged men looking for prospective brides by obtaining their details from various online platforms. Acting on a tip-off, police obtained the necessary permission from the municipal authorities before raiding the premises on Wednesday night. During the operation, officers found the women seated in separate cubicles, allegedly making calls to prospective victims.The police seized nine Android smartphones, 17 keypad phones, a MacBook, six cheque books, 16 ATM/debit cards, multiple SIM cards, registers and other electronic devices allegedly used in the fraud.Besides the two alleged masterminds, those arrested include Akanksha Srivastava (27), Pushpa Pal (35), Aarti Kushwaha (24), Rajni Arya (26), Pooja Sharma (28), Deeksha Kumari (22) and Neha Kumari (24), all residents of Jhansi. Police said two other women were also arrested during the raid, taking the total number of accused to 11.A case has been registered under Sections 112 and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.Police said Haldhar Sahu, Sahil Sahu, Akanksha Srivastava and Pushpa Pal have been remanded to judicial custody, while the remaining accused were granted bail on personal bonds in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.
