Story that beats wild, wild West  

Deceit and intrigue are no monopoly means used ruthlessly to achieving the coveted goals. Such negative qualities can be taken to their bizarre extremes by even apparently simple folks. Ingenuity displayed in the execution of the ill conceived plans beats the wildest imagination. One such story unearthed by one of the intelligence branches recently is more than mind-boggling.

As reported in a Bangla contemporary, a girl endowed with enough feminine attributes hailing from a poor family in Cumilla came to the capital in search of livelihood. Not enough educational qualification to back her up, she however remained unfazed about her success. She thought big. So she took elaborate preparation for spreading her network. One can bet it takes guts to make a plan on such a scale. It seems to be a piece of story cut out from the Hollywood plots.

All she has been doing is to target, for operation, men above 40-45 with money who have lost their wives, are separated or divorced from their spouses but have children. She has a whole set of backup groups in order to carry out her operation clinically perfect. She has impostor parents who may live or not with her. There are fake brothers and sisters living elsewhere and to make her case more convincing the branch of her family clans is shown spread further in the form of aunts and uncles.

Once the target has been decided, she rents a room close by. Her fake parents also rent a house at a little distance or in the same apartment where the widower lives. Now under pretence somehow deliberately draws the man's attention in the market or on the street. For example, she or one of her disguised relations may accost him on the street for some information since 'we are new to the locality'. The man obliges to inform out of courtesy.

After this initial introduction, there is again a coincident meeting when a few words are exchanged. But soon such meetings on the street or in the market continue to happen regularly. She then asks for the man's telephone number and once she gets it, calls him. She narrates how unfortunate she is that her husband has divorced her and leading a miserable life. The man may or may not sympathise with her. If he does, she also feels for him, knowing as if for the first time, that the man is also a widower.

Now is the time for one of the fake family members to play a crucial role. S/he would approach the man to tell that the girl he has met recently is their relation and likes him. If he has no objection, she will be delighted to marry him. Thus the marriage is solemnised in a kazi office which too is manipulated for the purpose only.

Once she enters the man's family, she leaves no stone unturned to please the man but more importantly his teenage daughters and sons. Highly pleased by wife's devotion to members of the family and relations, the man cannot say no to any of her requests. Thus, she gets half a million bucks out of him for sending his fake brother abroad with a job. Within six to seven months she spends in the family, she manages to capture Tk1.5-2.0 million. Then suddenly she vanishes into the thin air. Her latest victim was a man living in Basabo. He had to go to see her ailing mother in village home. On return, he found that his so-called wife has vanished with valuables including cash and jewellery.

His search for the residents of the relatives he visited ended up discovering that all are gone including the kazi office where his marriage was registered. Investigation by the intelligence branch has come up with the alarming disclosure that the girl has so far cheated six to seven men and extracted material resources well beyond Tk 10 million. This is deceit at its highest. Beware middle-aged men if beautiful girls make the first advances.

In a society of economic polarisation and acquisition of wealth -- means notwithstanding, intrigues like this will be played as a tool for making money.