Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Koh-e-fiza police of the city on Thursday claimed to have arrested a youth, who impersonated as a girl on social media, as well as phone calls, and befriended a man, duping him to the tune of Rs 80 thousand later.
The police said that the arrested accused is a resident of a slum in Kolar, who was influenced by the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Hindi film, ‘Dream Girl’. In the movie, Khurrana used to talk to men by imitating the voice of a woman.
Koh-e-fiza police station TI Brijendra Marskole told Free Press that on Tuesday, a man named Aman Namdev, a resident of Lalghati, approached the police, telling them that earlier, he had befriended a girl named Shivani Raghuwanshi on a social media platform. He added that after chatting for a few days, she began mounting pressure on him to marry her.
When Namdev refused, Raghuwanshi threatened to commit suicide and demanded money from him on an online payment application. Namdev gave Rs 10,000 to her. A few days later, a man named Ashu Mehra (22) called up Namdev and told him that Raghuwanshi tried to hang herself. He said he was her brother who needed Rs 70,000 for surgery. A petrified Namdev gave him Rs 70,000 in Lalghati area.
After Namdev reported the incident to Koh-e-fiza police, the police arrested Ashu who confessed to operating online ID by the name of Shivani Raghuwanshi. He told the police that he had cooked up the story to make quick bucks. He said he got the idea of duping people after watching Hindi film, Dream Girl, released in 2019. He admitted that he duped several men by imitating woman’s voice. Ashu is being questioned further, after which more details will be revealed, police said.
