A32-year-old con man was arrested by the Delhi Police from Haridwar on December 22. The police said on Sunday that Abhishek Vasisht posed as the owner of a media house and married a Delhi woman, only to fleece her of jewellery and cash two weeks later.
“He had started interviewing reporters for his channel in Haridwar and was in an advance stage of negotiation with some persons interested in a franchise of his ‘news channel’,” said a police officer.
DCP (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwah said Abhishek married his first wife in 2002 but has not been staying with his family for the last six years. He got in touch with a Delhi-based woman in 2018 and introduced himself as the owner of ‘Akshaya Deep Media House’. The couple got married in March and he fled with all the jewellery and cash two weeks later. A case of cheating was registered against him at Barakhamba police station.
“Abhishek shifted to Haridwar. He created fake identities on matrimonial sites, claiming he owned a luxury car and a house in Gurugram, and that he earned ₹2 lakh per month. He was in touch with over 20 prospective brides,” said the DCP.
Abhishek told the police that he has a degree in journalism and claimed to have worked as a reporter with several news channels. In 2012, he also posed as an astrologer to work with a devotional channel. He was ousted from the channel after multiple complaints of cheating against him.
Mr. Kushwah said Abhishek’s parents separated soon after his birth. “His father lives in Uttarakhand but he would tell everyone that his father was dead,” said the officer.