CHENNAI: A 29-year-old man, who developed a relationship with a young woman staying in the city over phone and later threatened to share her private photos and videos, was arrested from Theni district.
The suspect, M Manoj Kumar of Kanniservaipatti village, a BTech graduate preparing for TNPSC exams, hid his personal details from the victim and created a pseudo identity in the name of Raj and shared photos of a different man downloaded online to make her fall for him, said police.
Police suspect the complainant may be his first victim. The investigation officer said, “Manoj made random phone calls and zeroed in on phone numbers, which Truecaller app showed as women. Then he tried to initiate a conversation with them. To this victim, he told that he had followed her for over seven years and that he worked at a private bank,” said the officer.
The victim, a native of Madurai, fell for his tricks and started talking to him. Later, she also shared her photos and videos. As the relationship grew, Manoj asked her if he can use her Gmail account, claiming there was some technical glitch in his account and stole all her contact numbers.
“Then he told her that he lost his job and had to pay Rs 50,000 to get it back. Convinced, the victim sent Rs 20,000 to an account number shared by Manoj claiming that it was his friend’s. Soon after this, he threatened to send her private photos to her family and friends if she didn’t give him the remaining Rs 30,000.”
The victim approached Anna Nagar all-women police and a case was registered. Since Manoj threatened her from different phone numbers, police went in search of his friend, whose account number he had shared. Only after the arrest, police came to know that the account holder was Manoj himself.
Bid to smuggle gold foiled, five arrested
Chennai: Chennai Air Customs arrested five passengers and foiled bids to smuggle 1.42 kg of gold and electronic goods worth `1.13 crore at Chennai Airport on Thursday. Four passengers, who arrived from Dubai, were intercepted and on search, 1,147 grams of gold concealed as saw dust in cartons, was recovered. The gold was worth `49.50 lakh. The passengers were also carrying electronic goods worth `42.04 lakh, which they didn’t declare. All four were arrested, a release stated. In another incident, a passenger, who arrived from Sharjah, was intercepted and 275 grams of gold worth `11.87 lakh was recovered. He was also carrying electronic goods worth `9.80 lakh, which he didn’t declare. He too was arrested