PUNE: The Bibvewadi police on Monday arrested Yogesh Dattu Gaikwad (26), a resident of Kannad taluka in Aurangabad, on the charge of cheating multiple women by marrying them after representing himself as an army personnel.
Gaikwad has taken lakhs of money from at least 20 youngsters by promising them jobs in the Indian Army, police said.
Police have arrested his accomplice, Sanjay Shinde (37) of Ahmednagar, who acted as his bouncer wherever Gaikwad went.
Police have also seized 12 army uniforms and other incriminating material from his possession.
On June 21, a woman (22) from Bibvewadi registered a complaint against Gaikwad.
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone V) Namrata Patil, senior inspector Sunil Zavare, and sub-inspector Rajesh Usgaonkar arrested both Gaikwad and Shinde.
“Gaikwad has cheated many women and their relatives by impersonating as an army officer,” said Patil.
Zavare said, “Gaikwad has married four women — two from Pune city and one each from Amravati and Aurangabad.
Two of these marriages were held at dharmashalas in Alandi and two others in temples, but none of these marriages were registered.
At the same time, our preliminary investigation revealed that Gaikwad was dating 53 women.
We will record statements of all those women who approach us.” “He used to impersonate as Col Ram or Maj Ram, and on few occasions, he even used his real name without any army designation.
He used to claim that he was posted in Jammu and Kashmir and would always be in army uniform while meeting women.
We have seized 12 army uniforms, 26 brand new shoes, two motorcycles, two four-wheelers, a trunk, cell phones, rubber stamps, and other valuables, collectively worth Rs5.5 lakh, from his possession,” said Zavare.
“Preliminary investigations also revealed that he had cheated these women and others to the tune of Rs 55 lakh,” Zavare said.
Police were searching for Gaikwad after registering the cases and had conducted searches in various districts.
“We came to know that there was a cheating case registered against him in 2017 with the Topkhana police station in Ahmednagar.
We took his details from the police station and contacted his parents, who are farmers.
However, his parents said that their son had not visited them for months,” said Usgaonkar.
“We finally nabbed him from Aurangabad,” Usgaonkar said.
“He keeps moving from Pune to Aurangabad, Mumbai to Gondia or Nagpur to Dhule.
He stays in a city for a month or two in a rented room,” Usgaonkar said.
Speaking about his modus operandi, Zavare said “He has created a fake profile as an army officer on different matrimonial websites and presented himself as an army officer on social media sites.
He keeps walking on roads of different cities and interacts with unmarried women,” he said.
“He has made rubber stamps and letterheads of the Indian Army by downloading images from internet sites.
He has printed about 22 fabricated joining letters of the army and distributed them to young men in lieu of money,” he said.
About 10 women on Tuesday visited Bibvewadi police station after the news of his arrest went viral.
He used to follow a good lifestyle.
“He hired good photographers to take his photographs, which he uploaded on his social media profiles and matrimonial websites.
He also conducted about six to seven pre-wedding photoshoots by employing professional photographers”, Usgaonkar said.
“Secondly, he used to take bodyguards with him wherever he went to impress girls and others.
He used to pay Rs500 to Rs2,000 to these bodyguards for a day.
He always used his four-wheelers to visit the families of the girls,” he said.
One of the women, who registered an FIR, told TOI, “In January, 2020 my mother was admitted to a hospital in Bibvewadi.
My mother and I used to visit the hospital for follow-ups.
I and my mother were waiting for a bus at the Bibvewadi bus stop when Gaikwad, who was wearing an army uniform, stood next to us.
His ID card fell on the road and I picked it up and handed over it to him.
He then struck up a conversation with me and took my details.
After few days, I received a friend’s request on my social media profile and accepted it.
A few days later, he met me and then he came to my house.
He begged my hand and my family members agreed.
We got married in Alandi, but he never took me to his house,” the woman said.
“He promised to provide a job to my brother in the Indian Army as jawan and took Rs2lakh from my parents.
Similarly, 10 to 15 friends of my brother gave him money,” she said adding, “But he kept on providing lame excuses to us.” Another woman (24), who stays in the old parts of the city, said, “I got in touch with him through a matrimony website where he identified himself as an officer in the Indian Army.
He took money on several occasions from me, claiming that he needed money as he was posted in far-flung areas.
I transferred him about Rs 1 lakh to him,” she said.