New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) A 43-year-old man, who posed as a casting director and allegedly duped many aspiring models on the pretext of providing them work, has been arrested, police said on Sunday.

Gaurav Khanna, a resident of Malviya Nagar, used Instagram to target the models, a police official said, adding profile sheets and details of 15 struggling models and three mobile phones have been seized from him.

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"An aspiring model complained at Kirti Nagar police station that a fake casting director was cheating struggling models on the pretext of providing them photoshoot and event assignments," Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Vichitra Veer said.

The complainant told police that she was contacted by Khanna through Instagram, introducing himself as a casting director of the production house namely "ANG Productions", the DCP said.

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"Khanna gave her a portfolio offer and asked her to make a payment of Rs 20,000. Subsequently, he proposed upcoming selections for a lehenga and jewellery shoot with a reputed company and asked her to pay Rs 75,000 more," said the police officer.

According to the officer, the model paid Rs 10,000 to Khanna. Later, when she enquired from the company about the production house and their shoot dates in Delhi, she came to know that there was no shoot planned in Delhi.

The model later visited the office of ANG Production, where she came to know that Khanna had vacated the premises.

Following an investigation, police arrested Khanna from his Malviya Nagar residence.

During interrogation, the accused told police that he had worked in a production house for three years. But his salary was very low he opened a modelling agency and cheated aspiring models on the pretext of providing them work, the DCP added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)