Once victim was emotionally trapped, accused would ask for money on various pretexts (Representational)

A 46-year-old man has been arrested from Meerut for allegedly defrauding over 20 women through matrimonial and dating sites, the police said today.

The accused Gaurav Dhamija, a car spare parts dealer, mostly targeted widowed or divorced women and projected his virtual identity as a handsome, successful entrepreneur earning Rs 25-30 lakhs per annum.

"We had received a complaint at the Cyber Crime Unit/CyPAD, in which the complainant alleged that she has been defrauded by a fraudster who tricked her into depositing money after she showed interest in his very impressive profile on a matrimonial site. The fraudster, Dhamija, trapped her through a volley of emotional tricks such as calling the victim 'Mrs Dhamija' and promising to buy expensive gifts for her," said Anyesh Roy, DCP (Cyber cell).

The police said that once the victim was emotionally trapped, he started asking for money on various pretexts such as parents' treatment, business investment and other.

"The accused started with small sums and gradually escalated his demands. He kept asking for money but always avoided coming forward in real life. The victims kept paying him due to escalation of their commitment. It was only when the fraudster's act became too brazen that they started demanding their money back, only to be threatened with dire consequences," said Roy.

On the basis of the complaint, a case under suitable sections was registered and investigation was taken up, police said.

"During the course of investigation, technical details, including the digital footprints were collected. The accused, who is a resident of Nihal Vihar, Delhi, kept changing his location to evade arrest. His movements were tracked to Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and western UP. Finally, with the help of technical data and field inputs, the fraudster was arrested from Meerut," said Roy.

During interrogation, he disclosed that he used to target middle-aged unmarried/widowed/divorced women on matrimonial and dating sites and after befriending them on the pretext of marriage, he used to take money from them.

"When they demanded the money back, he used to threaten them with dire consequences. It was also revealed that he also used to cheat some of these women by promising to get them jobs in schools and municipal bodies and used to take huge sums from them," said Roy.

Police said they have found names of more than 20 victims disclosed by the accused who have been cheated by him. The victims are being identified and contacted to join the investigation.