Man arrested for ‘defrauding couples on social media’

Police on Sunday claimed to have arrested a man for defrauding people through fake social media advertisements that offered couples the opportunity to swap their partners.

The arrest was a part of a series of actions taken during the Clifton division police’s campaign ‘Rescuing Youth, Saving Future’ in the upmarket neighbourhood and its surroundings. Suspect Arsalan Qamar was arrested by the Boat Basin police during a raid near the Khyber Hotel in Phase-IV. His arrest was disclosed during a news conference by Clifton ASP Suhai Aziz on Sunday.

She told the media that the Clifton police’s ‘Rescuing Youth, Saving Future’ drive aims to secure and save the young generation from one-wheeling, Sheesha, drugs, motorbike racing and the misuse of social media.

“A special team was formed under the supervision of the Boat Basin SHO, and the police team finally arrested a key suspect for misusing the social media,” the ASP explained. “The suspect has also admitted to the crime.”

The officer said the accused has admitted to defrauding people through fake social media advertisements that offered couples opportunities for involving themselves in indecent activities.

She said that the suspect was most recently involved in defrauding people with a new fake social media advertisement titled ‘Dirty Nights (Couple Swapping)’, and the event was scheduled for November 3.

However, added the ASP, the police arrested the man with the help of an informer, who had contacted the suspect pretending to be a customer, and when the suspect came to meet the informer, the police arrested him.

According to the advertisement, the man was charging Rs25,000 for a ticket to the event, with additional charges for booking rooms and acquiring the services of DJs.

“I made different pages on Facebook under different accounts to offer couples such parties with separate rooms, DJs and drugs,” the suspect revealed before the media. “After taking their money, however, I deleted the pages and made new ones under different accounts.”

FIR No. 557/18 under Section 420/25D of the Telegraph Act has been registered against the suspect, as further investigation is under way. ASP Suhai claimed that the police have also arrested two more suspects, namely Mehran Shahzad and Abdul Ghayas. She said the suspects were involved in drug peddling in the Clifton locality and that the police had found hashish on them.