CHENNAI: Three men from West Bengal were arrested by Chennai police for allegedly duping a college student near Seven Wells of more than Rs 35,000 in an online financial scam last month. The girl identified as Mahalakshmi (19) allegedly died by suicide as she was depressed over losing the money.
The arrested accused are Amanullah Khan (20), Mohammed Faisal (21) and Mohammed Asif Iqbal (22), from Kolkata. A senior police officer said, “A special team was sent to WB to nab the culprits. First, the mobile numbers were obtained from their social media accounts and through that their bank transactions were traced.
This led us to their location and ATMs they frequent.” The police said more than a month ago, Mahalakshmi received a message on Instagram from an unknown account that claimed to pay higher returns on investments. The message allegedly said for an investment of Rs 750, Mahalakshmi would get Rs 23,500.
Believing that the scheme was fair, Mahalakshmi invested Rs 37,500 through online transactions. After several days, when she did not receive any returns or replies, she demanded her money back. When there was no reply again, Mahalakshmi became depressed and allegedly died by suicide on April 2, said the police. Speaking to the media persons on Friday, RV Ramya Bharati, joint commissioner, Chennai (North), said, “While initially a case under section 174 (suspicious death) of the CrPC was registered, after investigations, cheating charges were also added.
After the arrest, the three persons have been arrested under abetment to suicide charges.” They were brought to the city on Thursday. All three men unemployed. They had duped several people, added Ramya Bharati, who asked people to be careful of such scams.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on helpline 104 and Sneha’s helpline 044-24640050)