CHENNAI: An A-plus category history-sheeter, his wife and an accomplice were arrested by the Sholinganallur police on Tuesday for allegedly luring people through a private dating app and robbing him of gold jewellery and cash using a honey-trap modus operandi. Police identified the accused as ‘High Court’ Maharaja (32), his wife Priyadharshini (25), and Thanalakshmi (53) — all natives of Thoothukudi.
In one instance, Priyadharshini allegedly befriended a 48-year-old tahsildar from Tiruvallur district through the dating app and gained his confidence. After a few days of interaction, he agreed to meet her in Sholinganallur. At the meeting spot, Maharaja and Thanalakshmi took photographs of the two and threatened to make them public, forcing him to hand over about 25 sovereigns of gold jewellery and cash, police said.
The trio also approached another individual around 9 pm on February 22 and later threatened with a knife and robbed him of a gold chain and `1,500 in cash. Based on the two complaints, cases were registered under sections 296(b), 309(4), 311 and 351(3) of the BNS. Police said Maharaja has a murder case pending in Thoothukudi and is allegedly involved in similar offences across several districts. About 50 sovereigns of gold and `2.5 lakh were recovered from them. The trio were later remanded in judicial custody.