Mumbai: Probe reveals 200 actors duped of Rs 35 lakh
The accused were identified as 24-year-old Avinash Sharma, a web designer and his assistant Vinod Bhandari.
Nearly 200 aspiring actors and actresses were duped to the tune of Rs 35 lakh, said the police on Tuesday in a case wherein two fraudsters were arrested by the crime branch on Monday for falsely promising the victims roles in television series provided they pay for the same.
The accused were identified as 24-year-old Avinash Sharma, a web designer and his assistant Vinod Bhandari. "We have also found Rs 10 lakh in Sharma's bank account, which will now be frozen," a crime branch officer said. "One of Sharma's friends is a casting director from whom he picked how to reach out to aspiring actors. Sharma used this process to con unsuspecting youngsters," the officer said.
The accused posed as a director and a member of CINTAA on a website advertising that they wanted fresh faces for serials. "Sharma would stay in touch with the victim through WhatsApp. He would disguise under different names such as Rakesh Gupta, Aditya Jain, Shruti Jain, and Roshni. While speaking to female victims, he would pose as a female," he said.