The Delhi Crime Branch arrested a man for allegedly duping over 50 women across several states. According to police, Mukeem Ayyub Khan (38) would pose as a government official on various matrimonial sites to deceive high-profile professional women. Khan told police that he allegedly created multiple fake identities on popular matrimonial sites targeting unmarried, widowed, or divorced Muslim women. “During conversations with them, he would tell them that he is a government servant, struggling to raise his daughter after the death of his wife. He also used to share pictures of his wife and daughter. He would also meet these women’s families to talk about marriage and to fix a date for the wedding. Once these women trusted him, he would take money from them, under the pretense of booking a resort or marriage hall or hotel for the wedding,” said DCP (Crime Branch) Sanjay Sain. DCP Sain added that in some cases, he even convinced the victims to buy expensive items such as mobile phones, jewellery, and vehicles in their names, which he later would sell for cash. He’d also make them buy his flight tickets when he’d come to visit their families. In one case, he allegedly booked a scooter for a victim in her name, paid part of the amount, and convinced her to cover the remaining balance. After taking the scooter for a ride, he disappeared, leaving the woman to bear the financial loss, said police. Police said Khan began his criminal acts in 2020, when he first joined matrimonial websites. He initially visited Vadodara in Gujarat, where he met a divorcee and duped her out of Rs 30,000 on the pretext of having lost his wallet. Although he married the woman later and had three children with her, he soon developed a scheme to con other women for financial gain. In 2023, he married another widow from Preet Vihar in East Delhi using the same tactics. Despite multiple raids across different states, Khan managed to evade capture by frequently changing locations and committing new crimes. However, a police team finally succeeded in arresting him near Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi, after receiving a tip-off that he was traveling there from Vadodara. Despite numerous victims, only a few women came forward to register complaints. Based on the ongoing investigation, Khan has been linked to multiple victims, including one in Rae Bareli, one in Rampur, two in Lucknow and one in Preet Vihar, police said. Legal proceedings have been initiated against Khan, and information has been shared with relevant police stations to investigate his involvement in other crimes across the states, said police.
