Revenge con: Girls honeytrap cheat

NEW DELHI: Uttam Pandey was a poacher who baited game on his palm. The photo-sharing app, Instagram, was his hunting ground. He searched for aspiring female models-pretty faces and pouts-and the rest was easy as all he had to do was play on their vanity. Posing as a casting director, he made false offers of modelling assignments and they came tumbling over each other.
They eagerly paid his signing-up fee and Pandey, 27, made a habit of laughing all the way to the bank. By his own admission-police are still getting complaints from victims in Delhi, Punjab, Mumbai and other places-he duped some 250 women in this way. But that was before he rubbed a young fashion designer and her friend the wrong way.
When he wasn't duping women, Pandey worked for a newspaper in Chhattisgarh and supposedly had a taste for books, albeit of a questionable kind. He says his modus operandi was based on a story he read six months ago. He identified his prey, posted contact information on their account, and sat back calmly. His victims didn't keep him waiting very long.
Neha, 20, who studies fashion design at an institute in Naraina Vihar, also fell for Pandey's trick. On April 14, he left a message on her account in the name of "Uttam Trust" saying she had been selected for a clothing line's catalogue shoot and would be paid Rs 25,000 if she took up the offer.
Pandey made a similar offer to Neha's friend, Ambika, on Whatsapp. When they got back to him, he asked them to pay Rs 6,400 each for a Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) card although he was not affiliated with the body. After pocketing the money, he fobbed them off with excuses and then stopped answering.
So the friends decided to teach him a lesson. They made a fake Instagram profile with an attractive woman's photographs. The fake "model" contacted Pandey, agreed to his terms and called him to Connaught Place to receive his fee. But when Pandey arrived, he found SHO Mukesh Walia's not-so-photogenic team waiting for him. Neha and Ambika had informed police and they caught him red-handed.