Maharashtra: Cops make no headway in ‘lootera dulha’ case

The fraudster groom Mohit Chaddha

Almost three months after the incident came to light, there has been no breakthrough in the ‘lootera dulha' case of Lonavla, wherein a Ludhiana-based family was drugged before being robbed of their mobile phones and cash in August. The forensic analysis report related to the sedated mango shake which was offered to victims has also not arrived in the last 75 days.

The main accused Mohit Chaddha had created a fake profile on multiple matrimonial sites to trap divorcees looking to marry again. Chaddha claimed that he is financially sound and settled in Canada. The three fraudsters involved in the scam were Chaddha who posed as the groom, his alleged uncle Harjeet Singh, and their help Satish Rao. They gained the trust of a Ludhiana-based family who arrived at Mumbai airport on August 7. The family then travelled to Lonavala, where the fraudsters had booked a villa for six nights and deceived the victims during their stay.

CCTV grab of accused fleeing in a rickshaw from the villa in Lonavla after drugging victims

"He claimed to be running a franchise business in Canada and said he came to Maharashtra to hire candidates as his business was growing," said the 41-year-old prospective bride, who is the complainant in the case registered with Lonavla city police.

A total of nine people including the prospective bride, who runs a boutique in Ludhiana, had arrived to meet Chaddha. A few of them were also prospective candidates looking to work with Chaddha in Canada, but due to their mother tongue influence, they were hesitant to face phone call interviews.

Chaddha's driving license which was found to be fake

Claiming that he would arrange smooth interview calls, Chaddha and his accomplices took everyone's cell phones and later offered them a mango shake, which was allegedly spiked. "After having the mango shake, we all became unconscious. I regained consciousness after 18 hours," said one of the victims, who runs an e-commerce business from her house in Ludhiana. The woman has been facing a lot of trouble as her bank account has been frozen following the FIR and complaint at the bank.

"I have been facing a lot of difficulties after I was defrauded by Chaddha and his gang. Though the FIR has been registered there is no progress in the case. A police team had arrived in Punjab in search of the accused but the cops returned empty-handed," she added.

The driving licenses of Harjeet Singh, which may be fake

According to the woman, the investigating officer had promised that her bank account would be unfrozen a week after the Ganpati festival. "My bank has been asking for the court order to unfreeze my account, but now the officers in Lonavla police do not even respond to my calls nor do they see my messages. It is not practically possible for me to travel all the way from Ludhiana to Lonavla to meet the investigating officer or other policemen privy to the investigation. There has been zero progress in the case in the last three months," she added.

"Initially, the cops said that the forensic report of the spiked drink would come in 15 days from the laboratory, and when I asked them about the report after two weeks, they told me that it takes around a month. Now, they are saying that it comes after three months… is this a joke? I am reeling under a tremendous financial crisis and the cops are doing nothing in the case," she said, adding that despite it being the festive season, she couldn't conduct any business due to her frozen bank account.

The driving licenses of Satish Rao, which may be fake

When contacted, the senior inspector of Lonavla city police, Suhas Jagtap said, "Our investigation is underway. One team had also gone to Punjab to search for Chaddha but we could not make any breakthrough in the case. He had created multiple profiles on different matrimonial sites but now these accounts have been deleted. We will crack the case soon."

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Approx. hours victims were unconscious