Their biggest swindle happened in Kapashera, Delhi of about Rs. 62,00,000 (£68,510)
The 2005 Bollywood hit ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ leads another example of its impact gone wrong. After so many stories of crook couples, a new one of a Bunty-Babli duo has hit India in the National Capital Region.
The movie stars Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee as a couple sharing a common story of shattered dreams and heading into a life of conning others for money. Similar is the story of Anuj Srivastava and Rekha Dagar. Having not so lucrative career, they decided to make money the ‘Bunty Aur Babli‘ style.
The couple has conned Indian people in five cities to date, and are being searched vehemently by the Noida Police. After Gautam Buddha Nagar, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Delhi and Allahabad. So we wonder where is their next target?
One of the close relatives of the couple stated that Anuj’s hometown is a district named Gangaganj in Allahabad. His late father P. K. Srivastava was a lineman at a powerhouse in Bamrauli, Allahabad. His elder brother Amit Rai is currently staying in Allahabad with their mother Maya Devi.
Reports say Anuj was a college drop out because he failed in B.Sc. He left studies and with the help of Uncle Omji Srivastava, started managing contracts of vehicles in NTPC, Unchahar.
However, in 2003, Omji left his job due to some issues and Anuj’s job ceased. After a few years of joblessness, he started working in a call centre in Okhla, Delhi, where he met a Delhite girl and fell in love.
Anuj and Rekha, married in secrecy and soon, the couple was blessed with a girl child, Aadya. But, the secret love marriage didn’t remain a secret to their families for long. Finally, in 2015, they married officially, during which Aadya was kept hidden from other relatives and friends. Later, Rekha gave birth to a boy.
In 2011, the duo inaugurated their Technical Support Office in Sector-62, Noida. That’s the place where all of this began when they conned their customers of about Rs. 15,00,000 (£16,575) in the name of providing them with cheap electronic components.
In 2013, they rented a flat in Sector-57, Noida, and rooked people for about Rs. 12,00,000 (£13, 260) to 15,00,000.
In 2014, they moved to Kolkata, just to execute another robbery of approximately Rs. 35,00,000 (£38,675), and later in the same year, robbed people of Gurgaon of about Rs. 12,00,000.
They even tricked their landlord Amarjeet Kaur, in Shakarpur, Delhi to rob him of Rs. 8,00,000 (£8,840)along with the neighbours of Rs. 25,00,000 (£27,625) and absconded on May 5, 2015. Amarjeet’s daughter Nishu Kaur filed an F.I.R in Shakarpur Police Station.
Even that’s not all. Their biggest swindle happened in Kapashera, Delhi of about Rs. 62,00,000 (£68,510) and later, in Allahabad, when they conned their landlord Ramesh Kumar of Rs. 45,00,000 (£49,725). In 2016, landlord Sanjeev Malik was tricked for about Rs 30,00,000 (£33,150).
Next, they shifted to Paras Deep Society in Greater Noida at Rishabh Singh’s flat and pulled off another Rs. 30,00,000 (£33,150) con. The couple used to deal with this rented flat as if they owned it.
July 5, 2017, marked the date the accused came to live in Devdutt Sharma’s flat in Sector-22, Noida. They carried out their usual act and robbed Rs. 25,00,000 and fled.
However, Mr Sharma filed an F.I.R against the pair in Sector-24 on 14th February 2018. He stated that Anuj once sold an iPhone worth Rs. 60,000 (£663) at just Rs. 30,000 (£331.50).
Sources state that Anuj and Rekha had a friend in Noida named Ashok Yadav, who helped them escape and hide after every swindle. Ashok was also involved in their first con at Sector-62, Noida. But, later, he just helped them escape, rather than participating in their ploys.
One of Anuj’s childhood friend, being a dupe of his own friend’s fraudulent act, mentioned that he used to fake his ID to open bank accounts and then using a fake card, he used to hire purchase from a private finance company, just to resell the products to other people at half the marked price. According to this friend:
Initially, Anuj will keep his promises and earn everyone’s trust, and then when you least expect it, he’ll be out of your life with a huge amount of money that belongs to you.
Their story also resonates with the most famous and romantically connected American criminal pair Bonnie and Clyde. These two young Texans became famous for their crime spree in the 1930s. They were known to have committed many murders, several robberies and burglaries. However, they were both shot and killed in 1934 by police after a nationwide manhunt.
For the Anuj and Rekha duo, the last F.I.R was reported in Noida, and they are being searched all over the National Capital Region and every other place they’re related to.
Will they be caught this time? Where could they possibly be at this very moment? The answers to any such question are in the hands of the Noida Police and possibly people who might know their real whereabouts.
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