A businesswoman in Hyderabad, India, was arrested on Feb 22 for stalking and abducting a television anchor after she matched with someone impersonating him on a marriage website.

Ms Bhogireddy Trisha, the managing director of five start-up companies, had been duped of four million rupees (S$64,800) by the “catfisher” pretending to be Mr Pranav Sistla, reported Indian news outlet India Today.

In a classic case of what is known as “catfishing”, the unknown scammer had used Mr Sistla’s pictures on their profile.

The 31-year-old woman, who runs a digital marketing company, was arrested with five accomplices by the Telangana Police.

One of her crew was a worker in her office who joined the operation upon her offer of 50,000 rupees to install an Apple AirTag on Mr Sistla’s car, said the police.

The Feb 11 kidnapping was two years in the making, reported India Today.

The woman had come into contact with the unknown swindler named Chaitanya Reddy on the Bharat Matrimony website in 2022.

As they chatted, the “man” asked her to invest in his business, promising good returns.

According to the police, she transferred the sum to him but realised she had been cheated after he began avoiding her after receiving the money, reported India Today.

The woman then called the phone number on his profile – which belonged to Mr Sistla.

Mr Sistla told her someone had impersonated him and even lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police department.

He then blocked her number, but the woman – who appeared to be an “intimacy-seeking stalker” – hatched a plan to abduct him to “sort things out”, the police said.

The party of six carried out the plan on Feb 11. Mr Sistla told the woman he would respond to her calls and so managed to escape, said the police.

He filed a report after, leading to his abductor’s arrest.