He lured them by dangling the promise of a well-paid jobs abroad. He spiked their drinks. And he stole from them, as he himself had been stolen from: some years ago, when he, too, dreamed of a life outside India.

He raped the women.

Police in Bhopal say this was how Jalandhar native Simran Singh, 35, went on a crime spree that spanned eight cities. He preyed on over 30 people, mostly women.

Three of his crimes happened in Bhopal, the police say.

These include the one that would prove to be his undoing: the rape of a middle-aged Mumbai woman whom he lured to Madhya Pradesh and robbed of more than Rs 2 lakh.

Unbeknownst to Singh, she approached the police. He's now been arrested.

A DANGEROUS CUP OF COFFEE

For Rajendra Gunekar, also from Mumbai, the twist of fate that brought him to Bhopal was a newspaper ad claiming to arrange European work visas.

Simran Singh met Gunekar and a friend of his, Anil Pawar, in Bhopal and took them to a hotel in MP Nagar. He gave them coffee.

The sedatives did their work.

Singh decamped with valuables that included gold rings, cash and a cheque for Rs 2 lakh that was encashed the same day.

A colonel living in Bhopal lost even more: Rs 7 lakh.

Singh robbed him after getting to know his caretaker. He raped her.

The police say Simran Singh has admitted to robbing victims in Bhopal, Gwalior, Ujjain, Dehradun, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat and Barabanki.

They add: he took inspiration from the film Drishyam, throwing away his victims' mobile phones in trains.

After putting them on silent mode.