Friendship club racket busted, 25 arrested

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Some 25 people, among them 20 girls who were college and school dropouts, have been arrested here for fleecing money through a friendship club and a fake massage training centre, police said Saturday, but clarified it was not a sex racket.

The group, which also had five boys, was operating the racket from Janakpuri District Centre, a popular spot in west Delhi, police said.

The group had set up the 'Honeymoon Nights Friendship Club' and a massage training centre in their three rented premises in Janakpuri. They lured people with advertisements in all major dailies across India.

'The girls, all between 19 to 24 years of age, upon receiving calls provided the customer with a bank account and gave the details of the charges right from registration to the girl he wanted to befriend,' a police official said.

The mastermind, Rajesh Singh, is still untraced and on the run, police said, adding that the gang's daily earning was around Rs. 1.5 lakh.

'The group also duped people on the pretext of providing training for massage and would ask the interested caller to deposit thousands of rupees for a massage kit and fee of the trainer in an account,' the official added.

Once they got the money, the gang members would stop taking the calls or switch off their mobile phones, said police.

According to police, the girls were into the racket for easy money as they earned anything between Rs.30 to Rs.40,000 per month, which included their commission.