The Tappachabutra police on Monday arrested a notorious 38-year-old fraudster who duped several persons in the guise of fixing suitable matches while collecting amounts. Police also seized as many as 85 mobile phones from the accused. The accused has been identified as Mohammad Sadiq, 38, resident of Mahboob Colony in Tappachabutra police limits.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) V Satyanarayana said that the modus operandi of the accused was that, he went through the matrimonial column of a reputed Urdu newspaper and selected advertisements given by affluent families seeking suitable alliances for their daughters. After that, he would call them up and introduce himself as a close relative and business-partner of a well-known jewellery shop-owner in Hyderabad city. He lured them by saying that he sought a good match for his son, who was working in a reputed software company with a handsome salary or pursuing a course in medicine, etc and gained their confidence.
One of the victims, Ahmad Salman, 23, owner of a reputed law firm of the city lodged a complaint stating that, in the month of August, he had given an advertisement in the matrimonial section of a newspaper seeking alliance for his sister. After a few days, the victim received a phone call from a person introducing himself as Abdullah, relative and business partner of a well known jewellery shop in the city and said that he was looking for a match for his son who was a medical student and invited him to meet at Kulsumpura Masjid. After reaching there, he fled with the victim’s Samsung S4 mobile phone on the pretext of praying.
Later, the accused started making calls to the victim stating that he belongs to Khaiser, a history-sheeter of Habeebnagar gang and demanded `10 lakh and threatened to kill him and his father. Based on a tip-off, police arrested the accused Salman. During interrogation, he said that he originally hails from Mumbai and is a truck driver by profession. He married a Hyderabadi girl and started living in the old city.