CHENNAI: A quirky plan to repay mounting loans has landed a shopping mall employee in jail. The 34-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh allegedly sent an email to the Southern Railways claiming that three major train accidents will be orchestrated in Chennai. He expected the authorities to panic and plead with him for more details, which could then help him extort money.
However, the Government Railway Police (GRP) landed at his doorstep, arrested the person, and are investigating to ascertain if more people are involved making the plan.
According to the Chennai Central GRP, the accused, R Jayaram of Kadappa, on Friday sent an email to the Controller of Stores (CoS) of the Southern Railway claiming that three major train accidents have been orchestrated in Chennai. He said an eight-member team had set the plan in motion, and also attached a video of a major train accident.
He also said repercussions would be severe if there was no reply to his mail. “After the CoS saw the mail, a complaint was lodged and a case registered. The cyber crime wing was also alerted. On Saturday, CB-CID officials sent an email to Google to analyse the IP address of the sender.
We received details about his whereabouts and Jayaram was arrested from his house ion Saturday night,” a GRP source told TNIE. Inquiry revealed that Jayaram was working in the billing section of a shopping mall in Kadappa. He told police that he allegedly sent the email to make some easy money. Jayaram said he had also sent a similar mail to the South Central Railway on Thursday.
“He claims to have worked alone but we are probing to ascertain if any other person is also involved. We are checking his call history and inquiring with his friends,” the source said. This is the first time in the recent past where such a threat was sent to the Southern Railway, the source added. Recently, several schools and government offices in Chennai, including the secretariat, and railway stations have received hoax bomb threats.