In December 2021, a 44 year old man from Pondicherry, alleged to have swindled crores of rupees from women by promising marriage, was arrested by the Thane police in Maharashtra. Prajit Jogish Keje allegedly went by aliases Prajit Tayal Khalid and Prajit T and used matrimonial websites to contact these women, after which he would tell them stories about an urgent need for money. The police had at the time said that Prajit cheated more than Rs 2.5 crore off women in different states including Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal.
Now, a new documentary called Wedding.con, that tells stories about women cheated off their money by men like Prajit, has been released on Amazon Prime. Here, we look at the case that got him arrested in December 2021.
First case
The ‘cheating’ episodes came to light after a Thane-based woman from Dhokali locality filed a police complaint against Prajit. In December of 2021, the woman approached the Kapurbawdi police station alleging that she was cheated by a man under the pretext of marriage. According to a Hindustan Times report, Prajit Keje had gotten in touch with the woman through a matrimonial website, and promised to marry her.
After interacting with her for a period, he said that he needed money urgently, convincing her that he would return double the money. He had claimed that he sold his hotel in Paris but that the money from the deal was held at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). However, after the woman paid him Rs 16.86 lakh, he had absconded, following which she filed a police complaint.
Trap set to nab Prajit Keje
A team under police inspector Priyatama Muthe was conducting the investigation in the case, when they found that Prajit had cheated at least 25 other women using a similar modus operandi. They decided to use this to trap him and asked the Thane-based woman to contact him with a story that she had sold some property and come into money, some of which she would like to lend him. The plan apparently worked, and Prajit surfaced again to meet the woman. The police who were at the spot arrested him, booking him under charges of rape and cheating.
Watch: Wedding.con - Official Trailer