Runaway bride, who duped 11 men, finally nabbed
Rita alias Puja, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, duped eleven people in the last few years, with the help of four accomplices who posed as her father and family members
Not once, but eleven times, this woman conned men on the pretext of marriage but later duped them after fleeing with jewellery and cash.
Rita alias Puja, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, duped eleven people in the last few years, with the help of four accomplices who posed as her father and family members so that people did not know her real identity, police said.
Rita, who goes by one name, used to target mostly divorced, disabled or single youngsters so that the gang did not have to spend on decoration and wedding arrangements.
All her marriages were either performed in a simple manner at a rented apartment, temple, and ashram or in court. On wedding night, fraudster used to decamp with ornaments, gifts and other household items.
The gang’s modus operandi was to target prospective grooms through matrimonial sites into light, with Rita duping men in Uttarakhand, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, police said.
Following a tip off from an informer, police arrested Rita along with her gang members, including Mukesh Singh, Bhopal Singh and Arun all residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnore, from Roorkee, said superintendent of rural police Manikant Mishra.
Ashok Kumar, a resident of Dhanuri had filed a complaint with the police in Haridwar’s Kaliyar, alleging that Rita dupe him, after getting married in a court and fleeing with ornaments and valuables, following which a police team was constituted to arrest the fraudsters, Mishra said.
Kumar was duped by Rita, who told him that she was resident of Pauri Garhwal’s Kotdwar and her family members hail from the state itself, police said.
“With fake names, the gang used to target prospective grooms and presented themselves as the father, cousin and uncle of Rita.
“They used to describe themselves as being from a poor family so that they did not have to spend money on wedding and instead used to borrow money from targeted person as pre-wedding expenses,” Mishra said.
“A police team was formed, which led to the arrest of the gang, whose criminal background is being investigated.”
Cash amounting to ₹35,000, ornaments and other valuable items have also been recovered from the gang members, police said.
The arrested people have confessed that they duped 11 people in the way,” station house officer at Kaliyar police station Devraj Sharma under whose supervision the case was unearthed, said.
