BENGALURU: The Davangere Railway police have arrested a 45-year-old man from Rajasthan for deceiving three women with promises of marriage. The accused, who had befriended at least 250 women, specifically targeted those who identified as widows or divorcees on matrimonial sites. Operating under the alias Pavan Agarwal, he manipulated these women with promises of marriage and extorted money from them.
The police said the accused, Naresh Pujari Goswami, has been residing in Bengaluru for over two decades and is employed at a clothing shop in Chickpet. Goswami is alleged to have fabricated profiles using images of young men, portraying himself as a Customs official and software engineer on matrimonial and social media sites.
Following a complaint from a victim in Coimbatore, the police initiated an investigation.
The police said that Goswami had called the victim and her parents from Coimbatore to Bengaluru for a meeting. He asked them to give Rs 10,000 at the railway station stating that he wanted to reserve a ticket for his relatives following which he fled the scene.
Dr SD Sharanappa, DIGP Railways, Bengaluru, said, “Using pre-activated SIM cards, the accused befriended over 250 women including 56 from Rajasthan, 32 from Uttar Pradesh, 32 from Delhi, 17 from Karnataka, 16 from Madhya Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 11 from Gujarat, 6 from Tamil Nadu, 6 from Bihar and Jharkhand and two from Andhra Pradesh.”