THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 42-year-old man and his lover were arrested by the city police for allegedly cheating a private finance firm by pledging fake gold to avail a loan of Rs 1.2 lakh. Manikyavilakom native Abdul Rahman and his 24-year-old lover Ramzi, a resident of Vallakadavu, were arrested by Thiruvallam police for cheating the finance firm located at Vandithadam on January 15. The police said the duo pledged fake gold and obtained a loan from the finance firm. While filling out the mandatory form, the duo had given a nine-digit mobile number as a contact number. The financier became suspicious after finding that the mobile number given was one digit short. By the time he went out to summon them, the duo had already sped away in their car.
The financier then checked the gold, which was found to be spurious. He then told the police that the duo came in a Maruti Swift car bearing a Thiruvananthapuram registration number. Though there were no CCTV cameras installed in the firm, the police managed to obtain video footage from nearby cameras. The CCTV cameras in the adjacent localities were scoured and the police managed to identify the suspects. After the arrest, the police seized the car, which was found with its number plate tampered. The police said Rahman was accused in a bike theft case registered by the Medical College police.