With the arrest of five persons, including three women, a fake maids placement agency which had duped several clients has been busted, police said.
They used to dupe clients by sending them maids who would disappear from the house on pretext of some work within hours of joining their assignment.
While invesitigating a case registered with Sarita Vihar police station, Lakhan Singh, Bablu, Anita, Sapna and Poonam were arrested on Sunday, said said additional commissioner of police (south-east) Ajay Chaudhry.
On Saturday, Dinesh Shabharwal of Shalimar Bagh in north Delhi told police that about a fortnight ago, he had received a pamphlet, circulated through newspapers, advertising that maids were available by ‘Mitilesh Domestic Service Centre’. He, believing it to be a genuine placement agency, contacted the given mobile numbers and a man named Raj Kumar responded. Sabharwal was called in front of Apollo Hospital to take home a maid.
Sabharwal met two men and two women there. One of them, introduced himself as Raj Kumar, later identified as Lakhan Singh, talked to him and after charging Rs 16,000, instructed Sonia Kumari, later identified as Anita, to accompany Sabharwal to his home at Shalimar Bagh.
“The maid worked there just for an hour and on the pretext of sweeping floor outside the house, she disappeared. Sabharwal waited for her, but she never turned up. He made enquiries in and around Sarita Vihar and learnt that no such agency operates in the area,” he added.
Police said, in order to prevent their clients from checking their authenticity, they would insist on the clients to provide maids at their doorstep. They used to circulate pamphlets through newspapers at various places in Delhi with catchy names like ‘Mitilesh Domestic Service Centre’, ‘Dipika Maid Bureau’, ‘Kamla Maid Burea’ and ‘Jyoti Maid Bureau’ which would contain fictitious names and different mobile numbers.
When an employer would contact them, they would insist on providing the maid at their doorsteps itself or at any prominent place nearby.
“Once the maid would disapper, they would respond a few calls of the duped employer and thereafter would switch off the given phone number for a long period,” Chaudhary said.
The accused have confessed to their crime and revealed that had duped many people in Shalimar Bagh, Rani Bagh, Model Town, Janakpuri, Greater Kailash, Kalindi Colony and Faridabad, police said.