SRIKAKULAM: In yet another case of fraudsters cashing in on the ignorance of people, a middleman promising jobs in a foreign country cheated some fishermen and played a vanishing trick. The incident came to light when families of victims complained to collector Lakshmi Nrusimham who asked Polaki mandal MRO J Ramarao to find out the details. The MRO met the families of the victims Wednesday and sought the details of their whereabouts.
According to reports, an agent from Chennai collected `75,000 from each of the eight fishermen of Guppudupeta and Suradadavanipeta in Polaki mandal of the district promising jobs in Malaysia. The agent collected money from the victims in January, following which some fishermen boarded the flight to Malaysia in February. However, after reaching Malaysia, the agent disappeared, leaving the fishermen in the lurch. Earlier too some fishermen from Sompeta, Kaviti and Vajrapukottur mandals were conned by middlemen promising jobs in foreign countries.
Meanwhile, the MRO, in his inquiry found that the middleman was from Chennai and took the issue to the notice of Chennai tahsildar, when he found that the agent is on the run.
The MRO promised the victim’s families of taking immediate measures to trace the agent.