Mumbai:
A Facebook casanova, who duped several teenage girls into parting with cash and jewellery by posing as an NRI on the social networking site, landed behind bars yesterday.
Vijay Bahadur Khatri (23) is believed to have conned nearly 25 girls by befriending them on Facebook, claiming that his parents were in the United States and then 'impressing' them by spending a lot of money during his meetings with them.
He would then make up a cock-and-bull story about him having squandered his parents' money in a business and say that he needed some money - a few lakh rupees - urgently to show it to his parents, who would, invariably, be coming in a few days.
"Khatri, who hails from Nepal, used to tell the girls that his parents were in the United States and he had come to India to study.
"He would befriend them on Facebook, ask to meet them after getting close and then impress them by wearing good clothes and spending a lot of money on their dates. He would also claim to be a Jain," said a police officer.
"He would later tell the girls that he had lost his parents' money in a business, which he couldn't tell them about, and needed to show a few lakh of rupees to them when they came to India in a few days.
"When the girls said they did not have that much money, he would suggest that they give him their mother's jewellery, which he would mortgage and return as soon as his parents went back," he added.
The girls would, however, never hear from Khatri again.
The special squad of the Western suburbs arrested Khatri from Kurla after being on his trail for several months based on the complaint filed by a girl (name withheld) with the Khar police.
The girl's statement read, "Khatri first became a good friend on Facebook. He used to always say that his parents were in the US and he had come to India to study.
"After meeting me, he convinced me to bring jewellery from my house as he needed some money to show his parents when they came to India. He had said he would mortgage the jewellery for some time and then return it to me.
"He stopped answering my calls the day I gave him the jewellery and his phone was perennially switched off after that," the girl said in her statement.
"Three girls filed an official complaint against Khatri with the police and we have found numbers of 25 other girls on his cellphone. We are now investigating whether he has duped those girls too," said a police official.
"He was arrested under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and has been remanded to police custody till July 25," added the official.