The Hindu : New Delhi News : 12 held for running friendship club

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Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008
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New Delhi

12 held for running friendship club

Staff Reporter

Membership charges varied from Rs.2,500 to5,000 per month

NEW DELHI: Twelve persons, including 11 women, who were allegedly running a friendship club from a commercial complex at Hari Nagar here for the past eight months have been arrested by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police.

The accused have been charged under Section 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 471 (using forged documents) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Mastermind

The alleged mastermind of the racket, Varun (23), who earlier ran a mobile phone shop from a market in Hari Nagar, allegedly floated Princess Friendship Club last August in quest of quick money.

A Delhi University graduate, he himself had been a member of a similar club earlier and found it to be a lucrative proposition.

“The club’s advertisements appearing in leading dailies promised contact numbers of college girls, lecturers, doctors, models and airhostesses, seeking friends. When the prospective clients called up at the mobile numbers given in the advertisement, they were asked to deposit some amount in a bank account, mostly in private banks, and were subsequently provided a contact number for chatting,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satyendra Garg, addressing a press conference on Tuesday.

The membership charges varied from Rs.2,500 to Rs.5000 per month for different categories: lower category (college girls and housewives); middle category (teachers, doctors and other professionals) and upper category (models and air hostesses). The members were required to pay renewal charges every month.

“The women attending the phones calls in the guise of models or air hostesses belonged to lower middle class families and were earning their livelihood through it. These women -- aged between 19 and 34 years -- were paid anything between Rs.3,500 and Rs.5,000 per month,” said Mr. Garg.

The police claim to have seized 19 mobile phones, four fixed phones, 13 debit cards, seven credit cards and a large number of registers containing contact numbers and names of several hundred clients. “Almost all the debit and credit cards and telephone connections were procured against forged documents. The bank accounts have also been opened using forged papers.”

Haryanvi film

Varun has also acted in a Haryanvi film and was in touch with a Bollywood producer in connection with a film project, said Mr. Garg.

The raid was conducted at the club on Monday afternoon following a series of complaints against the mushrooming of such clubs duping people on false promises.

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