The cyber police in Bombay on 10th June arrested 47-year-old aspiring actor Apurva Ashwin Dowda for allegedly holding himself out as a casting director and duping over 80 persons by promising to give their minor children break in the entertainment industry since the last more than three years. Apurva has an MBA degree from a US university and is a registered actor and writer. He is a repeated offender and runs fake websites with promotions on casting for films, TV serials and ads. He himself has featured in a few ads.
The cyber police apprehended Dowda on the Bombay-Pune Expressway on 10th June, based on a complaint filed by Mahesh Gupta, a resident of Borivli, Bombay. Apurva told the police that he duped people as he wanted to release his film, Trance. In his complaint, Gupta had said, he had read advertisements about casting children, and had registered the name of his daughter. He added that he had transferred around Rs. 33 lakh in the account of Apurva. He got suspicious when Dowda kept demanding more money.
The police recovered nine mobile phones and 40 SIM cards, including international SIM cards, from Apurva. He had nine bank accounts, multiple passports and an international driving licence. The police have recovered most of Mahesh Gupta’s money from Dowda.
Apurva Dowda had been arrested in 2010 for a similar offence. Besides this, he has similar cases registered against him at several different police stations in Bombay.