ACCUSED ARE WANTED IN A CASE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND ALSO HAVING FIVE INVOLVEMENTS OF SIMILAR KIND, DUPED VICTIMS ON THE PRETEXT OF GIVING A BREAK IN THE TV SERIAL/OTT INDUSTRY, 07 SMART PHONES, 10 SIM CARDS, 15 BANK CHEQUEBOOKS/PASSBOOKS, 8 ATM CARDS, ONE GOLD TOPS/EAR RINGS RECOVERED, THE COMPLAINANT WAS CHEATED OF INR 24 LACS ON THE PRETEXT OF BREAK IN A SERIAL ON STARPLUS & HOTSTAR, ✳️ MORE THAN 20 NCRP COMPLAINTS FOUND LINKED
(MOREPIC1) Face2News/New Delhi
The alert team of Cyber Police Station, South West district nabbed two notorious cheats/fraudster namely (1) Tarun Shekhar Sharma and (2) Asha Singh@ Bhawna inspired from the movie Bunty aur Babli, who used to dupe the gullible victims on the pretext of giving a break a break in famous serial airing on star plus and Hot Star. With their arrest, 7 smart phones, 10 Sim Cards, 8 ATM cards, 15 bank Chequebooks & Passbooks used for commission of crime were recovered from their possession.
A complaint of one SN R/o Raghu Nagar, Dabri, Delhi was received on NCRP portal, wherein she alleged that her minor daughter was doing a diploma in acting and modelling from Ekta Kapoor’s academy. She surfed the internet for any opportunity to work in any serial and came across a Facebook page desiring need of new comers for a famous serial on star plus. She clicked the same link and she was redirected to one WhastApp number, who introduced himself as Piyush Sharma, former MTV Splitsvilla participant and now a director.
He asked for her portfolio, gave her the number of famous director/producers Rajan Shahi and asked her to contact through his reference. The Rajan Shahi again obtained her portfolio and asked her to contact the HR Director of Cintaa, Ms. Anita. Thereafter she was promised a role and was asked to pay huge amounts on one pretext or other. Victim transferred about INR 24 Lacs approximately. Thereafter she was blocked.
INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED: Keeping in view the gravity of the case, a team comprising SI Opendar Singh, HC Ashok, HC Babulal, HC Jai Parkash, Ct. Jeetu Ram was constituted under the supervision of Insp. Pravesh Kaushik, SHO/PS Cyber, South West, and under the overall supervision of Sh. Vijaypal Singh Tomar, ACP/Ops, South West District. The team adopted a multi-dimensional strategy, focusing on crackdown on the syndicate of cheats. Using technical surveillance, digital footprints, and analysis of money trail, it was revealed that the suspects used only WhatsApp for communication with the victims, conducted frauds from hotel rooms in Lucknow, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala & Karnataka. Accused used to change their locations very frequently.
(SUBHEAD)After sustained analysis, a raid was conducted in Bengaluru, Karnataka, resulting in the arrest of two accused persons namely Tarun Shekhar Sharma R/o Nirala Nagar, Distt- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, & Asha Singh @ Bhawna R/o Nangloi, Bakkarwala, Delhi – 110041 Age- 29 Years, who were staying in a 2 BHK service apartment. During the arrest, 7 smart phones, 10 Sim Cards, 8 ATM cards, 15 bank Chequebooks & Passbooks used by the fraudsters containing incriminating evidence were recovered from their possession.
MODUS OPERANDI: Mr. Amit Goel, IPS, DCP, South West, said, on interrogation, it was revealed that the accused Tarun Shekhar Sharma & Asha Singh @ Bhawna got themselves trained through YouTube videos and they used to contact the victim from different WhatsApp handles and kept on changing the mobile numbers, bank accounts and the cities for the offence, so as to dupe the law enforcement agencies. They used to stay in premium hotels such as The Lalit, Crowne Plaza, Welcome Hotel etc. across the country.
Accused persons were living a lavish life. They did open approximately 15 bank accounts, used more than 10 Sim Cards for the fraud. The mobile sim cards issued have different addresses across different states.
KNOW THE ACCUSED: Accused Tarun Shekhar Sharma R/o Nirala Nagar, Distt- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Age- 32 Years. Accused Asha Singh @ Bhawna R/o Nangloi, Bakkarwala, Delhi, Age- 29 Years.
Accused were found involved in four other cases i.e. two cases of Uttar Pradesh, one previous case of Delhi and still wanted in one similar case of Jammu & Kashmir.
CASES WORKED OUT: FIR No. 33/2025, u/s 318(4)/319(2)/61(2) BNS, PS Cyber, South West district. FIR No. 15/ 2022, u/s 420/120 -B IPC, PS Special Crime Wing, Jammu City, Jammu & Kashmir. 20 NCRP Complaints found linked across the nation.
Further, investigation of the case is in progress.