Gwalior: Cops in Madhya Pradesh busted two fake matrimonial call centres in Gwalior that were allegedly cheating unmarried men across the country by using fabricated profiles, stolen photographs and false promises of marriage, officials said.
According to reports, the Gwalior Crime Branch, along with the Cyber Cell and Thatipur police, detained 20 young women during coordinated raids in the Mayur Nagar and Jyoti Nagar areas. Two women identified as operators of the centres have been taken into custody, while the alleged mastermind, Tileshwar alias Dinesh Patel, remains absconding.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh said the action followed specific intelligence about a marriage scam being run under the guise of matrimonial websites. “The accused targeted unmarried men, lured them with fake profiles and emotionally manipulated them into transferring money,” he said.
The first raid was carried out at a house behind Mayur Plaza in Mayur Nagar, where a call centre was found operating from the first floor of the residence linked to Patel. Police recovered laptops, desktop computers, registers, mobile phones and multiple SIM cards from the premises.
Twelve women between the ages of 20 and 25 were found working there, allegedly chatting with and calling men to convince them to send money. Investigators said the centre was being run by Rakhi Gaur, 24, under the directions of Patel. She was taken into custody along with others found at the site.
During questioning, police learned that a second call centre linked to the same network was operating nearby. A subsequent raid at a flat opposite the Dwarkadhish Temple in Jyoti Nagar led to the detention of seven more women. That centre was allegedly operated by Sita alias Sheetal Chauhan, 26, police said.
Investigators believe both locations were part of the same racket controlled by Patel, who is now being searched for. Raids are continuing to trace him and identify additional members of the network.
Police said the modus operandi involved creating fake matrimonial profiles using photographs of models and attractive women downloaded from the internet. Once men registered on the platforms, callers posing as prospective brides would strike up conversations, build trust and then send QR codes seeking money for “registration,” “verification” or supposed marriage-related expenses.
After receiving substantial sums, the callers would abruptly cut off contact, switch off their phones and disappear, officials said.
In a bid to evade detection, the women working at the call centres were allegedly not given smartphones. Instead, they used basic keypad phones without internet or social media access. The SIM cards were registered in the names of the operators or the alleged mastermind and were routinely discarded after each fraud.
Preliminary findings suggest the gang may have cheated more than 1,500 people and siphoned off about Rs 1.5 crore. However, police said confirmed records so far point to over 100 victims, with the final number likely to be much higher.
The Crime Branch is examining bank accounts, digital data and transaction trails to determine the full extent of the fraud. Further arrests are expected as the investigation progresses, officials said.
