Kota (Rajasthan), July 18 (PTI) The police in Kota on Saturday arrested eight members, including three women, of the ‘Looteri Dulhan’ gang — a runaway bride syndicate operating across multiple states and duping single men by luring them into fake marriages and fleeing with cash and jewellery.
The crackdown was carried out under ‘Operation Criminal Dusting’, headed by Kota (rural) Superintendent of Police Sujit Shankar.
According to Shankar, the gang allegedly spun a web of deception that targeted single, older men desperately seeking companionship and operated like a well-oiled corporate enterprise of fraud, with smooth-talking brokers stationed across Kota’s Ramganj Mandi and Jharkhand’s Dhanbad.
These brokers would seek out vulnerable bachelors with a suitable bride in exchange for a “handsome matchmaking fee” ranging between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, the police officer said, adding that the prospective brides, introduced to the victims, were already married.
“Once the lavish, theatrical setup of a fake wedding is concluded and the money is changed hands, the funds were instantly partitioned equally among the gang members,” Shankar said.
“Within days, the newlywed ‘bride’ would choreograph an emergency, citing illness of a parent, and would never return home,” he added.
The syndicate was busted after two defrauded grooms, Dinesh Kumar of Sandpur and Dilip Singh of Hiriyakhedi village, approached the police in Ramganj Mandi police station on July 13 and 16, respectively, and lodged complaints.
The police registered separate cases under sections 318(4) ( cheating) and 61(2) ( criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and began investigation under the supervision of ASP Ramkalyan Meena.
Following an investigation, the police rounded up Lali Kumari (18), Kumari (25), Poonam Bag (30), Sudhir Kumar (30), and Rohit Bag (20), all residents of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, Superintendent of Police Sujit Shankar said.
He further said that a local connection was secured through the arrest of their aide Bhura Lal (48) from Jhalawar, and an interstate logistics network was exposed with arrests of other aides, Suresh Kumar (35) from Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh, and Rupesh Kumar (27) from Bihar’s Aurangabad.
The gang confessed to swindling Madhya Pradesh-based Suresh Patidar of Rs 1 lakh, Jhalawar-based Deepak Meena of another lakh.
They also squeezed Rs 1.10 lakh out of Tinku Singh in Asnawar, fleeced Aklera-based Satyanarayan of Rs 1.50 lakh and tricked Bundi-based Dhanraj Nai into giving Rs 1.10 lakh.
With the eight suspects currently in custody, Ramganj Mandi police station is aggressively continuing their interrogation to trace the full financial footprint of the gang and ascertain if more victims fell prey to their matrimonial trap, SP Sujit Shankar said. PTI COR KSI KSI
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