Kareena Kapoor

Hyderabad, Sept. 9: Mohammed Mairaj Rahman calls himself a seller of dreams. Unfortunately for the young man, the cops see it a bit differently.

They have given him the title “conman” after several aspiring actors complained that he cheated them after promising roles in films.

The 25-year-old was arrested yesterday after a Mumbai-based model, Divya Sharma, told police that he sweet-talked her into paying Rs 20,000 and later vanished with her passport.

Sharma, who was asked to fly down to Hyderabad, said Rahman had offered her a Rs 14 lakh dud cheque as signing amount for a film.

Rahman, who also styles himself as an ashiq (lover), hit the headlines after he said he was “infatuated” with actress Kareena Kapoor and “admired” city deputy police commissioner Shikha Goel.

He drew claps from the motley crowd of reporters when he said: “Next to Kareena Kapoor, I like Madam Shikha Goel.”

He also said he wanted the IPS officer to launch his next film with Kareena as part of the cast.

Police sources said Rahman was the same person who last year made prank calls and sent indecent SMS messages to Kareena and another actress, Smrithi Mishra. They said Rahman met Kareena at a Mumbai studio and a case has been registered against him in Mumbai for harassing her, Smrithi and Rani Mukherjee.

He is also accused of molesting aspiring starlets and blackmailing them.

The sources said Rahman, who worked under the assumed name Sameer Oberoi in Mumbai, would first introduce himself as a fan and then get himself photographed with film stars, mostly heroines.

Later, he got himself registered with film chambers as a financier and producer, which gave him access to private telephone numbers of film personalities.

Then he put out advertisements for attractive boys and girls to act in his films. “Don’t miss the opportunity to co-act with Kareena Kapoor and others,” said some of the pamphlets that he circulated in studios and film chamber offices.

Some of the roles he has offered are in movies that star Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kajol, Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi.

Goel said there were five cases against Rahman in Hyderabad alone and another two in Mumbai. “He exploited the desire of upcoming artistes to act with big stars,” the city deputy commissioner said.

Rahman defends “selling” dreams to aspiring artistes. “They come with hopes and I only cash in on their desire to be in the company of glittering personalities,” he said.

Asked if he was worried at being caught, he said: “Kya hoga? (What will happen?) Only two months in jail, if convicted. I have not been convicted so far.”