Mumbai man arrested in actor scam
Aspiring artistes promised roles by suspected con who took their security money and ran
Chandigarh: A Mumbai man has been arrested for duping nearly 25 wannabe TV and film actors for money on the pretext of giving them roles in serials, movies and commercials, police said Friday.
Sanjay Misra, who owns Tun-Tun promotions and Coordination Services, gave an advertisement in local newspapers inviting young aspirants from Punjab and Haryana for auditions a few days ago, police said.
"We arrested Misra from a hotel in Sector 22 where he was conducting interviews and auditions late on Thursday. He had selected some candidates and told them to submit a refundable security amount," Deputy Superintendent of Police Jagbir Singh said.
"Nearly a dozen people from different towns of Punjab and Haryana complained to us against him after reading his latest advertisement. We laid a trap and arrested him," Singh said. Police say others may be involved.
Misra promised the complainants roles and took Rs25,000-Rs250,000 from them.
"We came in contact with Misra in 2008 through a newspaper advertisement. He promised a role for our one-year-old daughter in a children's movie My Summer Vacation. We signed a contract and submitted a refundable security of Rs25,000(Dh1,971)," Ramneek, a complainant said.
"Misra told us that shooting will go on for 40 days and our daughter will get a remuneration of Rs2,000-3,000 per day. But no shooting has happened till date," she said.
"He gave us two cheques, amounting to Rs25,000, but they bounced. Then he stopped answering our calls," Ramneek said.
