KOCHI: Police on Wednesday took seven Malappuram natives into custody for swindling Rs 41.61 lakh from a doctor posing as Customs officials. They were taken into custody by the Palarivattom police following a complaint filed by a doctor residing at Edappally.
On December 29, the complainant received a message that a courier will be delivered to him soon. Later, he received a phone call from a person claiming to be a Customs officer. He told the doctor that a courier containing MDMA drugs addressed to him was recovered by his team.
The caller also informed that an investigation has been launched into the seizure and that the doctor has to prove his innocence. The victim was told to disclose his bank accounts as part of the ‘investigation’ to find whether any amount was spent on procuring the drugs.
The doctor was told to transfer money from his bank accounts to several other bank accounts given by the accused person to ‘investigate’ whether the money was derived from the sale of drugs. It was promised that the transferred money will be returned after 15 minutes on completion of verification.
Desperate to prove his innocence, the doctor transferred the money, but the amount was not returned even after two days. Realising that he was cheated, he complained last week. After conducting a probe based on the bank transactions, police took the accused into custody, police said.