CHENNAI: A man from Bihar was arrested by the Taramani police and remanded in judicial custody on the charge of cheating five inmates of a hostel in Taramani of Rs 40,000. According to police, Sachin Kumar, 24, was working in a private company in a contract job.
On February 6, he went to a hostel on Thiruvengadam Street in Taramani. “Kumar went to the first floor and knocked on a random door. He told the inmates of the room that he had newly joined the hostel and was staying in a room on the ground floor. He told the boys that his father was ill in Bihar and he must send Rs 5,000 immediately to him but his Gpay was not working and he does not have access to internet banking,” a police officer said.
Kumar told them they can transfer Rs 5,000 to a number and that he would rush to an ATM to get their money back. He later went to the ground floor and claimed that he was a new resident from first floor. He took another Rs 5,000 and left. “Hours later, he called up the men on first floor claiming that he was at an ATM withdrawing money and they had to transfer Rs 40,000 to the same number immediately.”
After receiving the money, Kumar switched off the phone. The men realised that they have been conned. They lifted his image from the hostel’s CCTV footage and shared it with other hostels. On Friday, Kumar went to another hostel but the inmates who had seen his image caught him and handed him over to police.