A Bunty Aur Babli-style scam has caught the attention of the Delhi police, who just arrested a con couple inspired by the Bollywood movie for allegedly duping aspiring actors by posing as TV serial producers and directors.
According to DCP (southwest) Amit Goel, the accused have been identified as Tarun Shekhar Sharma, a 32-year-old resident of Lucknow, and Asha Singh alias Bhawna, a 29-year-old resident of Delhi.
They have been linked to more than 20 similar complaints across the country.
Here’s how the couple lured aspiring actors
Tarun and Bhawna reportedly lured their targets through social media platforms on the pretext of giving them roles in popular TV serials and OTT shows.
In the latest case, the DCP said a woman aspiring to be an actor was duped of ₹24 lakh. The complainant came across the self-posing producers’ social media page, which was seeking newcomers for a TV show, and contacted them.
The couple asked her for money on different pretexts, such as processing and membership charges. However, after she transferred about ₹24 lakh, the woman found herself “blocked”.
How did the police catch the Bunty Aur Babli-style scamsters?
According to the DCP, the police followed the money trail and tracked the accused to a rented apartment in Bengaluru and arrested them.
On interrogation, the police found that the accused operated from different cities, frequently changing their locations to evade detection.
They stayed in luxury hotels and lived lavishly, police said.
The couple had 7 mobile phones, 10 SIM cards, 15 bank cheque books and passbooks, 8 ATM cards and a pair of gold earrings in their possession, all of which were seized.
“They opened around 15 bank accounts and used multiple SIM cards issued from different states. The fraudsters even trained themselves through online videos,” the officer said.
The accused are also wanted in a case in Jammu and Kashmir and involved in several similar frauds in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, the DCP said.