Man cheats people posing as photo journalist; arrested

New Delhi: A 25-year-old man was arrested for allegedly posing as a journalist of a reputed entertainment supplement and duping people after gate crashing page-three events at 5-star hotels, police said on Friday. The accused Ashish John, a resident of Moti Nagar, duped people by claiming to get their work done through his high-profile contacts.

John was arrested on Thursday night when he was attending a page-three event at a luxurious hotel in Lutyens' Delhi. Following a tip off, the police alerted the security personnel of the hotel and organisers of the event which lead to his arrest, a senior police officer said. A day before he was arrested, John attended another promotional event at another hotel.

"Interrogation revealed that John often visited such events and clicked pictures with celebrities and VVIPs," said Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi). He duped people he met at these events by telling them that he was in touch with influential people and can help get their work done, another police officer said.

A case has been registered at the Parliament Street Police Station and police are probing about the money he cheated from people. Police has not yet received any complaint from any victim. It is suspected that he used to steal things at the events and dine at fancy restaurants and travel extensively from the money he received from the victims, the officer added.

His social media profile also states that he works for the reputed entertainment supplement as a photo-journalist, the officer said. Police said he was also previously involved in a theft case registered at Patel Nagar Police Station.