Chandigarh youth held for duping aspiring models: Police

Chandigarh youth duped aspiring models in exchange for work abroad. (Representational image)

The Mumbai Police has arrested a 26-year-old fashion photographer from Chandigarh for allegedly duping several aspiring models under the pretext of finding them work abroad. According to investigators, the accused used social media as a platform to advertise his services and allegedly duped aspiring female models from Delhi, Jalandhar, Mohali and Navi Mumbai.

The Cuffe Parade police began to look for the accused, Rahul Singh, after a 25-year-old aspiring model from south Mumbai filed a complaint with them. The complainant told the police that she came across Singh’s post in February 2017, after which she contacted him on Facebook Messenger.

“The accused would claim to give aspiring models an opportunity to shoot abroad. Likewise, the complainant was told that she would be sent to Canada for a photo shoot,” said an officer. Later, the complainant travelled to Delhi and met the accused at a hotel in Paharganj.

The complainant also told the police that the accused was accompanied by a woman. She met the two in Delhi, following which they conducted a trial photo shoot and asked her to submit her documents along with her passport.

“The duo asked her to pay Rs 1.10 lakh for visa and other documentation. They claimed the money would be refunded to her. Later, as Singh’s phone was not reachable, she sensed something amiss and registered a case of cheating on November 30, 2017,” said an officer.

As part of the investigation, police officers started scrutinising the call data record of the accused, and learnt that he had purchased several SIM
cards from Nepal and had been using them to dupe aspiring models.

“We sent a team to the hotel in Paharganj… We got help from the manager and hotel staffers, who gave us the photocopy of the Aadhaar card he had submitted while checking in,” said an investigator.

After the investigators managed to get Singh’s residential address, a team was sent and the accused was nabbed from his Chandigarh residence.
Singh has been booked under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act. He was produced in court and has been remanded in police custody.