New Delhi, Sept. 15 -- A 29-year-old advocate was arrested along with nine others for allegedly masterminding a pan-India matrimonial cyber fraud racket through a fake matchmaking portal from Agra, police said.
The accused, Amit Kumar, allegedly used a woman as the proprietor of the firm and posed as its legal adviser to conceal his role. He was arrested from Agra on September 8 after technical surveillance led police to him. He was allegedly found driving a black Hyundai Creta bearing "Advocate" stickers and claimed he only provided legal assistance to the firm.
Police said digital evidence and questioning of an arrested manager established Kumar as the actual owner and alleged mastermind.
The case came to light after a complaint was filed on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, following which an FIR was registered at the Cyber Police Station, Central District.
The accused allegedly operated through shaadipartner.com, targeting men seeking matrimonial alliances. Police raided the alleged call centre in Agra's Sikandra area on September 4 and arrested Jaya Shakya, 44, the operational manager and on-paper proprietor, along with eight female tele-callers.
The accused allegedly lured victims using photographs of women sourced online and charged them for registration, profile activation, security deposits and contact unlocking. Fraud was capped at Rs 15,000 per victim.
Police seized a Creta, Rs 50,000, seven desktop CPUs and 47 mobile phones. Further investigation is underway.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.