Kota: Kota Rural police busted an inter-state ‘Looteri Dulhan’ (runaway bride) racket and arrested eight people, including three women, from the Ramganjmandi area Saturday for allegedly duping unmarried men by arranging fake marriages and fleeing with the money.The action was carried out under Operation Criminal Dusting, a special anti-crime drive launched by Kota Rural superintendent of police Sujit Shankar.According to the SP, the gang targeted single and elderly men looking for marriage. Brokers operating in Ramganjmandi and Jharkhand’s Dhanbad allegedly lured victims with promises of arranging brides in return for Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. The women introduced as prospective brides were already married. After the wedding, the money was divided among gang members. Within a few days, the bride would leave her husband’s home on the pretext of a family emergency and never return.The racket came to light after two victims — Dinesh Kumar of Sandpur and Dilip Singh of Hiriyakhedi village — lodged complaints at Ramganjmandi police station on July 13 and July 16. Police registered separate cases under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and launched an investigation under assistant sub inspector Ramkalyan Meena.During the probe, police arrested Lali Kumari (18), Jyoti Kumari (25), Poonam Bag (30), Sudhir Kumar (30) and Rohit Bag (20), all from Dhanbad in Jharkhand; Bhura Lal (48) of Jhalawar; Suresh Kumar (35) of Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh; and Rupesh Kumar (27) of Aurangabad, Bihar.During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to cheating several men in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by arranging fake marriages under different aliases, collecting between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh from each victim.
