The Delhi Police has arrested a woman who was declared a proclaimed offender in a cheating case involving a property fraud of Rs 16.5 lakh in northwest Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar area, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Mehnaz, allegedly duped a complainant by taking earnest money for a house she had already sold to another buyer. Following the fraud in 2023, she went underground and frequently changed her residence to evade arrest.

According to the officials, the case was registered at Adarsh Nagar police station. The complainant alleged that Mehnaz had taken Rs 16.5 lakh as advance for a property. During verification, it was found that the same property had already been sold. When the complainant demanded a refund, the accused stopped responding, they said. An FIR was filed against her.

The officials said the accused did not join the investigation despite repeated notices, leading a local court to declare her a proclaimed offender in 2024. A chargesheet was subsequently filed in early 2025.

“A team of the Crime Branch received information about her whereabouts on January 1. Acting on the tip-off, a raid was carried out in the Daryaganj area of old Delhi and she was apprehended,” a police officer said.