Delhi: Couple held in Bengaluru for duping acting aspirants of ₹24 lakh

The arrests followed a case registered in Delhi in early May on the complaint of a woman whose 17-year-old daughter was duped of ₹24 lakh

The Delhi Police on Saturday said they arrested a couple from Bengaluru, Karnataka, for impersonating film and television producers and directors and cheating acting aspirants by promising them opportunities in serials and movies on television and OTT platforms.

Police recovered seven mobile phones, 10 SIM cards, 15 bank cheque books and passbooks, eight ATM cards and a pair of gold earrings from their possession. (Representational image)

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel said the accused were identified as Tarun Shekhar Sharma, 32, an MBA degree holder from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, and Asha Singh, alias Bhawna, 29, a Class 12 dropout from Nangloi in Delhi. The two were wanted in four similar cases registered in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir over the past three years, and at least 20 complaints linked to them are lodged on the national cybercrime reporting portal (NCRP).

Police recovered seven mobile phones, 10 SIM cards, 15 bank cheque books and passbooks, eight ATM cards and a pair of gold earrings from their possession.

The arrests followed a case registered at the southwest district’s cyber police station in early May on the complaint of a woman from Raghu Nagar in Dabri, whose 17-year-old daughter was duped of ₹24 lakh. “She was promised a role in a TV serial and tricked into paying the amount in at least 100 transactions between April 28 and May 1, after which her number was blocked,” said Goel.

The girl, who was pursuing a diploma in acting and modelling from an academy run by a well-known producer, had clicked on a social networking page link offering casting opportunities. She was redirected to a WhatsApp number operated by a man identifying himself as Piyush Sharma, a former participant in a dating reality show turned director. He sought her portfolio and referred her to another alleged director and a woman posing as an HR executive.

Inspector Pravesh Kaushik and his team traced the suspects using technical surveillance, digital footprints, and money trail analysis. Investigators found that the duo operated only on WhatsApp, moving across hotel rooms in Lucknow, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka, frequently changing locations, numbers, and accounts.

“The interrogation revealed that they trained themselves through YouTube videos, contacted victims from different WhatsApp handles, and stayed in premium hotels across the country, living lavishly,” said Goel. Sharma was previously arrested three times between 2017 and 2021, while Singh was last arrested in 2022.

The couple, who met through a social networking site, have allegedly been running such frauds since 2017.