A 38-year-old man, Din Mohammad Mandal, and his wife were arrested after police busted a fake marriage racket that extorted money by solemnising bogus weddings. The couple operated the scam by posing as marriage mediators and tricking victims into forced marriages.
The police began investigating the case in 2019 after a woman lodged a complaint that Mandal—also known as Rahul—and his associates had forcibly married her off to a man named Hariom while she was intoxicated. Initial arrests were made, but Mandal and his wife absconded and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.
Acting on a tip-off, the police devised a plan where head constable Surender posed as a groom-to-be to lure the couple. The trap worked, and the accused were arrested from Jahangirpuri.
The couple allegedly posed as the victim’s sister and brother-in-law and extorted around Rs70,000 from individuals seeking brides. Mandal has a prior NDPS case, and his wife has two similar cases pending against her.
