KOCHI: Ernakulam North police on Saturday arrested a woman for swindling Rs 10 lakh from several youths after promising them jobs in the Naval Base. Devipriya Babu, 30, wife of Samuel, Thundathil Veettil, Cherai, impersonated as the wife of a top Naval officer to lure people into the trap, said the police.
She was arrested on a complaint lodged by Nijo George of Vaduthala from whom she took Rs 70,000 after promising a clerical job at Naval Base. The fraud was revealed when he turned up to join duty at Naval Base the other day.
Police said the accused had been cheating people for more than a year. Though she had claimed that the money was transferred to the account of a senior Naval officer, the police found it was false.
She duped Rs 6 lakh from a housewife in Thrissur after promising jobs for her two children. Interestingly, both of them even vacated their houses in Thrissur as the accused convinced them that quarters had been arranged for them at Naval Base. They also secured TC of their children after Devipriya assured them that admission had been arranged in Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV). They even bought the KV uniform, said the police.
According to Devipriya, the money she collected was meant for senior Navy officers and union leaders who could use their clout to secure jobs. Some of the victims even contacted ex-servicemen to verify the job vacancies and they were told that there were chances of getting jobs in Naval Base after paying money. This made them trust Devipriya. Police officials suspect that more people would have fallen prey to the fraud. A team led by North Inspector Sibi Tom and SI Anas made the arrest.