Uzbek fugitive web of deception: Uzbek woman married to Lucknow man on documents, lived illegally for 7 years; linked to trafficking racket
LUCKNOW: A 48-year-old Uzbek woman, Lola Kayumova, accused of involvement in
and sex work, had reportedly been staying illegally in Lucknow for more than seven years. Although official records list her as married to local resident Janak Pratap Singh, he has denied being her husband.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The certificate, issued by a Lucknow court in March 2019, states that Lola and Janak were married on 30 January 2019 at IIMRT Business School, Vipul Khand 6. It lists Janak (38), son of Ayodhya Pratap Singh and Maharaja Devi, as Lola's husband.
However, Janak told TOI over the phone, 'I'm not married to Lola, though I know her for long time. The document of marriage certificate is forged.'
When TOI visited Janak's residence in Tulsi Vihar Colony, Rajajipuram, the house was found empty.
A neighbour, who wished to remain unnamed, said, 'Janak's mother and his brother left to undisclosed location abruptly on Tuesday morning.'
Lola's Aadhaar card, issued on 1 August 2021 and updated on 21 April 2025, also lists Janak as her spouse. The address on the card is Orchid B, Omaxe R1, near the UP Police headquarters. She previously lived at Ambrosia D, Omaxe Residency 2.
Anoop Kumar Srivastava, owner of the Ambrosia D flat, said, 'Janak had introduced himself as house agent to assist Lola in getting a rented flat.
She used to pay Rs 17,500 per month. However, within six months I had to ask Loka to vacate the flat, as I was informed that large number of people were visiting the flat in late night hours.
Secondly, there was poor communication between us. She spoke language which was difficult for us to understand.'
Uzbekistan had reportedly issued an Interpol notice against Lola, but the grounds remain unclear pending her arrest. She was last spotted near Mayur Vihar, New Delhi.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Officials confirmed she remains at large.
Sources revealed that Lola was also connected to Thrijin Raj (alias Arjun Rana), who falsely posed as a journalist. Police have charged Thrijin and Dr Vivek Gupta under various laws including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Registration of Foreigners Act, the Foreigners Act, and the Immigration and Foreigner Act. Dr Gupta is currently untraceable.
According to sources, Lola lured vulnerable Uzbek women to India with false promises of employment. Once they arrived, their travel documents were seized. Thrijin allegedly helped them acquire fake Indian identification, while Dr Gupta reportedly performed cosmetic surgeries to make the women appear Indian. They were then forced into prostitution.
Two rescued Uzbek nationals, Holida and Nilofar, told authorities that several foreign women were brought to India through Lola's network, with many undergoing surgeries at Dr Gupta's clinic.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Pistol, ammunition recovered from Indore stream in Raghuvanshi murder case
Shillong: A Meghalaya police team recovered a country-made pistol, two magazines, and two live .32 calibre rounds from a stream in Indore on Tuesday afternoon in connection with the murder of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi. So far, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested eight people in connection with the murder. This comes after two of the prime accused in the murder — his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi and her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha — confessed to their relationship and role in the crime. 'The recovery of the firearm and ammunition confirms our suspicion about the kind of planning that went into this murder. We are piecing together every bit of evidence as we build a watertight case,' East Khasi Hills superintendent of police Vivek Syiem said. So far, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested eight people in connection with the murder. Sonam, Raj, and three others — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi — were arrested earlier and are likely to be produced before the court again on Thursday. The three people arrested in connection with evidence tampering are flat owner Lokendra Singh Tomar, property dealer Silome James, and security guard Balla Ahirwar of the Heera Bagh Colony building in Indore, where Sonam had reportedly been hiding for 10 days after the murder. They are expected to be produced before the court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class tomorrow. Also Read: SIT arrests two for evidence tampering in Raghuvanshi murder case The Tuesday afternoon recovery was based on leads provided by James. Additionally, ₹ 50,000 in cash was found hidden inside James' Hyundai i10 car, which he had allegedly taken from the laptop bag belonging to Raj Kushwaha. Syiem said that the laptop bag had earlier been burnt, while the laptop was reportedly thrown by the roadside and remains missing. Also Read: Police reject narco test demand in Meghalaya honeymoon murder probe All eight accused have been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including murder, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy, and unlawful possession of arms and ammunition. A decomposed body of Raghuvanshi, 29, was recovered from a gorge a week after the couple went missing from a homestay in Meghalaya. He had married Sonam on May 11 in Indore, and the couple arrived in Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya, on May 22 for their honeymoon. The next day, May 23, Raja was allegedly lured to the Wei Sawdong viewpoint by Sonam and murdered by the three hired men with machetes. Sonam reportedly fled the scene, only to return after the attack had ended. Raja's decomposed body was discovered in a gorge near the falls' parking lot on June 2.
The Print
36 minutes ago
- The Print
Akali leader Majithia held in disproportionate assets case linked to drug cartel, ‘laundered Rs 540 cr'
The arrest comes in a fresh case filed by the Vigilance Bureau, based on a report submitted by the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to probe allegations of Majithia's involvement in a drug cartel. The arrest took place at Majithia's residence in Amritsar. Teams of the bureau carried out raids at around 25 premises linked to Majithia across the state, including around nine in Amritsar. New Delhi: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau Wednesday arrested senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a disproportionate assets case, linked to a 4-year-old drug case against him. Giving details of the new case against Majithia, a Vigilance Bureau spokesperson said over Rs 540 crore was laundered through illicit channels into the bank accounts of companies facilitated by the former cabinet minister, including transfers through foreign entities. The spokesperson added that unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 161 crore was deposited in firms controlled by Majithia, while another Rs 141 crore is suspected to have been routed through offshore entities. Further breaking it down, the spokesperson said that excess cash totalling Rs 236 crore was deposited in company financial statements without any disclosures. Before his arrest, in a video put out on X, Majithia alleged that a team of the bureau had trespassed into his house and threatened his family and staff early in the morning. 'This is not the way. You are trespassing into my house. Please first introduce yourself. Don't come and threaten people in my house. I am sitting here, you are barging into my house. I shall not be pushed over,' Majithia is heard confronting Deputy Superintendent of Police-rank officer Inderpal Singh in the video uploaded by him. Singh is heard responding to Majithia that he is challenging the entire state by confronting the officials. Majithia's wife and MLA Ganieve Kaur was present at the residence at the time. Responding to Majithia's arrest, his sister and Lok Sabha MP from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, termed it a move to silence him as he was an outspoken critic of the Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab. 'Bhagwant Mann has sent his police to my younger brother Bikram Singh Majithia's house to suppress the voice of truth, he has reminded us of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi on 25 June, 1975,' she said in a post on X, adding that 'our family has never bowed down to the pressure of governments before and will not bow down now'. The drugs case against Majithia Majithia has long had a run-in with the state government over his alleged involvement in the 2013 Bhola drugs case, a money laundering and drugs investigation pegged at Rs 6,000 crore by the Enforcement Directorate. A former DSP in Punjab, Jagdish Bhola was convicted in the case and it was alleged that Majithia was also involved in the racket. Based on disclosures in the case, Majithia was booked in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, in December 2021, and a Special Investigation Team ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court continued to probe the case against him. Majithia has maintained political vendetta as the reason behind the charges and probe by the SIT against him. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal, national convener of Aam Aadmi Party that is in power in Punjab, said in Delhi Wednesday that the message of the ongoing campaign against drugs was that no one involved in the business would be spared, irrespective of their political clout. Addressing workers after the party's win Monday in the Ludhiana West assembly seat bypoll, he said: 'Drugs are being smuggled in other states such as Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat and Goa but the intensity of the war against drugs in Punjab is different.' 'Drug lords are being attacked, their houses are being demolished. Action on the drug mafia has been taken irrespective of how big political leaders they are. The people who had first brought drugs into Punjab and pushed the state into it, and they were ministers in the state, they used to supply drugs in their own vehicles and harboured international drug smugglers in their homes,' he added. (Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui) Also Read: Punjab's war on drugs is an asymmetric fight. Poor infra, not enough doctors or data
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Punjab: Majithia held for laundering over Rs 540-crore drug money
Chandigarh: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Minister Bikram Singh Majithia from his residence in a posh locality in Amritsar city on charges of laundering more than Rs 540 crore of drug money. Investigations by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the police probing the first information report (FIR) of 2021 and the Vigilance Bureau revealed massive laundering of drug money facilitated by Majithia, the government said. Preliminary investigations revealed that more than Rs 540 crore drug money has been laundered through several ways, including a huge unaccounted cash of Rs 161 crore deposited in bank accounts of companies controlled by Majithia, channelisation of Rs 141 crore through suspected foreign entities and excess deposition of Rs 236 crore without disclosure or explanation in company financial statements. Also, the government said there is an acquisition of movable and immovable assets by Majithia without any legitimate source of income. A Vigilance Bureau spokesperson told the media that it has registered a case based on a report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) registered under Sections 25, 27-A and 29 of the NDPS Act, wherein substantial evidence has been uncovered indicating massive laundering of drug money by Majithia. These transactions are being investigated by the bureau, and the investigations done clearly indicated that these funds were laundered drug money funnelled into Saraya Industries, allegedly facilitated by Majithia. The spokesperson said Rs 540 crore drug money has been tracked so far as having been generated illegally and by using the influence of Majithia as a public servant, being a legislator and holding a Cabinet post in the previous state government. The spokesperson said assets, including both immovable and movable assets in the name of Majithia and his wife, Genieve Kaur, have increased substantially, for which no legitimate source of income has been provided. Searches and seizures have been conducted by the SIT of 22 people and by the Vigilance Bureau at three locations, which have yielded over 30 mobile phones, five laptops, three iPads, two desktops, several diaries and many property documents and documents of Saraya Industries. Investigations are ongoing, and more arrests, searches and seizures would take place. The investigations would be taken to their logical conclusion by submitting all collected evidence before the court of competent jurisdiction for judicial verdict, said the spokesperson. Majithia has been facing charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act since December 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab. Majithia, who has been saying the cases were politically motivated, contending they had already been investigated by high-ranking police officers, is the brother of former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and brother-in-law of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal. Responding to raids on Majithia's residence, Sukhbir Badal on X said: 'Shiromani Akali Dal stands steadfast with Bikram Singh Majithia. It is clear that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party have been unnerved by the resolute manner in which Majithia has taken on the government and exposed its corrupt and amoral acts.' 'We will not be cowed down by the brutal attempts to suppress the voice of the people expressed by Majithia and other Akali leaders by letting loose state agencies against them. This is not the first time that the political vendetta has been unleashed against the Akali leadership. We will take it head-on,' he added. Responding to the Akali Dal leader's arrest, state Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal highlighted the deep-rooted issue of drug proliferation during the 10-year regime of the SAD-BJP alliance (2007–2017), describing it as a period when 'sixth river of drugs' was said to flow in Punjab. He reminded the public of testimonies such as that of notorious drug smuggler Jagdish Bhola, who named Majithia in court in 2013. Despite these revelations, successive governments failed to take action, even as lives were devastated by the drug crisis.
