For men looking for a bride online, Shaadi Partner.com appeared to offer what matrimonial websites promise: profiles, photographs and a chance to speak directly to a prospective match.There was a call centre in Agra, a group of women allegedly posing as prospective brides and their family members, and a series of payments dressed up as registration, activation and contact-unlocking fees.According to Delhi police, the operation was busted after a Delhi man lost Rs 15,000 – realising only later that he had been speaking not to the woman in the photograph, but to a tele-caller playing the part of a bride.Senior police officials said the operation was run through a seemingly legitimate matrimonial firm and that its alleged mastermind was a 29-year-old practising advocate.“The investigation began after a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal from the man, who was allegedly cheated through the matrimonial website ‘shaadipartner.com’,” DCP (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh.Investigators found that his money allegedly went into a Central Bank of India current account registered in the name of M/s Shaadi Partner Com. Banking KYC records allegedly identified Jaya as the sole proprietor and authorised signatory, said officers.Story continues below this ad“Further investigation into the bank account where the money was deposited linked it to six complaints from across the country involving the same modus operandi,” a senior police official said.Staged matchmakingAccording to the police, the operation was allegedly designed like a genuine matrimonial service.“The callers would identify men looking for brides, assess their financial background, and then send them photographs of women sourced online. The men were also shown dummy profiles created on shaadipartner.com, with screenshots sent to them to make the service appear genuine,” Singh said.Once a man showed interest, the next step was a phone call. “A woman employee at the call centre would pose as the prospective bride and speak to the client,” the police alleged.Story continues below this adThe conversations could continue for several days, creating the impression that a genuine matrimonial alliance was developing.Then the match would fall through.Officers said the woman would supposedly be found unsuitable because of Manglik dosh, family opposition, or because she had become engaged to someone else.If the client asked for more matches, more profiles were offered. Some clients were given contact details of ‘families’, who would also reject the prospective groom, citing social or economic differences, said police.If the client continued asking for matches, he would be told to wait until a suitable profile became available.Story continues below this adAccording to Singh, this could keep the victim engaged for two or three months before he was eventually told that his membership had expired.Police said clients could opt for packages — Mini, Medium, Ruby and Diamond — that ranged from Rs 2,500 to Rs 15,000.The fraudsters, the DCP said, deliberately kept the financial loss to an individual victim low and tele-callers were instructed not to collect more than Rs 15,000 from any one person.The logic was simple: a smaller loss was less likely to trigger an immediate complaint.Story continues below this adSingh described it as a “cheat small, cheat many” strategy, in which the operation could repeatedly target people while keeping individual losses relatively modest.Also Read | Date gone wrong: How Delhi cops busted honey trap-extortion racketA legal-looking businessThe operation also had the appearance of a conventional business.Police said the women were allegedly recruited through job platforms such as WorkIndia and Apna App and through newspaper advertisements. Police said the firm’s MSME registration, Labour Department registration, and franchise agreement were allegedly used to convince recruits that they were joining a legitimate matrimonial enterprise.Story continues below this ad“‘Employees’ were paid a base salary of Rs 6,000-7,000 and received a 10% incentive on the money they managed to extract from victims,” a police official said.The women were allegedly given monthly targets as well. Each was expected to bring in at least Rs 15,000 in fraudulent collections, police said, failing which they faced ‘salary cuts’ or ‘termination’, according to police.Police investigation also found that the alleged mastermind had created another layer between himself and the business.DCP Singh said Kumar had floated M/s Shaadi Partner Com in Jaya’s name while banking channels and SIM cards were also procured in the firm’s name.Story continues below this adKumar, meanwhile, allegedly presented himself as the firm’s “Legal Advisor”.According to Singh, this arrangement allowed him to keep the ownership trail away from himself and create the impression that he was only providing legal assistance to the business.On September 4, the call centre at Ramaji Dham Apartment in Sikandra, Agra, was raided by the Central District Cyber Police. Jaya was arrested on the spot and eight women tele-callers were apprehended.Kumar, however, vanished. The DCP said he switched off his mobile phones and went underground after learning about the police action.Investigators then used technical surveillance to track his movements.Story continues below this adOn September 8, they located him in Agra’s Kala Kunj area while he was travelling in a black Hyundai Creta with an “ADVOCATE” sticker on its windshield.According to Singh, Kumar produced his Uttar Pradesh State Bar Council credentials and claimed that he was merely a legal counsel. Investigators confronted him with digital evidence linking him to the call centre, after which he was arrested.Also Read | Man swiped right, landed in trap: Inside a Delhi dating app gang monetising lonelinessHow the gang dealt with complaintsThe operation also had a way of containing complaints.DCP Singh said callers were instructed to refund money if they sensed that a victim was about to approach the police.But if a complaint was filed on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the firm’s bank accounts were frozen, police said Kumar allegedly stepped in.He would present the firm as a legitimate matrimonial service, and claim that the complaint was the result of a misunderstanding over services. The cheated amount would then be refunded, according to police.Singh said this tactic was used to persuade authorities that the grievance had been resolved, allowing bank accounts to be unfrozen and the operation to continue.Also Read | Befriended 500 women in 2 years: Man held for duping women on matrimonial, dating sitesThe probe aheadThe six complaints linked to the bank account may be only the beginning; DCP Singh said the material seized from the call centre indicates that there could be thousands of victims.Investigators are examining 47 mobile phones, 7 desktop CPUs, WhatsApp conversations and financial transactions recovered during the investigation.The Central District Police has asked victims to approach the Cyber Police Station at Kamla Market, with details of the fraud and relevant payment or transaction records. “A small financial loss may appear insignificant, but for fraudsters, ‘cheat small, cheat many’ is a deliberate strategy,” the police advisory states.For investigators, the task now is to establish how far the network spread and how much money it duped.