A 27-year-old man was arrested with his three family members and two friends for allegedly cheating doctors and eminent personalities on the pretext of felicitating them at "fake" events in 5 star hotels, police said.
According to police, Ramendra Kumar Raj, who is the kingpin and also holds an M.Tech degree, wanted to earn quick money and for that, he involved his wife, father, and brother-in-law in his gang to dupe people.
The accused used to take Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 from their targets through online banking as fees for facilitation, media expenses and other expenses for organising the event.
Apart from Ramendra Kumar, the arrested have been identified as his wife Swati Priya (27), father Amrit Saw (47), brother-in-law Deepak Kumar Gupta (30) and two friends - Mohd. Sarfraj (28) and Mohd. Rizwanul Zama (28).
In a statement, DCP (South East Delhi) Chinmoy Biswal said that the gang was Jharkhand-based and planned to organise an event to cheat doctors in Delhi.
Mr Biswal said that the aim of the program was to felicitate doctors by a Union minister and other dignitaries.
"When the invited doctors reached a five-star hotel in Okhla to attend the function on October 7, they found that neither any minister nor any celebrity/dignitary had come to the hotel to felicitate them...25 doctors filed a joint complaint against the company and its director Ramendra Kumar," the statement said.
During sustained interrogation, the accused revealed that they all are highly qualified having post graduate or graduate degrees.
"The accused disclosed that in order to earn quick money and to lead luxurious life, they all planned to cheat eminent personalities of various fields," it said.
"The accused used to retrieve details of their targets from the internet and used to send them emails that the target has been shortlisted for award to be conferred to him or her for contribution in his or her field," it stated.
Police said the accused persons used to organise events in a 5 star hotel and send e-mails to their targets, inviting them to participate.
Rahul Gandhi's Seat At Red Fort Triggers Fresh Congress Attack On BJP 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing CBI Summons 5 Doctors For Questioning In Kolkata Rape-Murder Case Sweden Confirms 1st Case Of "More Grave" Type Of Monkey Pox Virus UP Man Rapes 13-Year-Old Daughter In Amethi: Cops Top Medical Body Suggests Not More Than 74 Hours Work Week For Medics Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.