Techie plays doctor on matrimonial site, cheats woman of Rs 8 lakh, arrested

Binoy Shetty took the identity of a doctor working for a medical college in Mangaluru and cheated on a 26-year-old woman by giving fake marriage promises.
Express Illustrations.
Express Illustrations.

KASARAGOD: Kasaragod Cyber Crime police arrested an IT engineer for allegedly creating a fake profile on a matrimonial website and cheating a woman of Rs 8 lakh by promising to marry her.

Binoy Shetty alias Sanath Shetty (33) was picked up from his house at Surathkal on the outskirts of Mangaluru, said Cyber Crime inspector K Premsadan.

Shetty took the identity of a doctor working for a medical college at Attavar in Mangaluru but used his own photograph in creating the fake account on sangam.com, said police.

The complainant, a 26-year-old woman working for a pharmaceutical company in Mangaluru, met Shetty on the matrimonial website in April.

On its website, Sangam.com says: "Unlike other matrimonial services, we focus on providing detailed family and background information to help you take the next step with confidence."

Shetty and the woman shared their phone numbers and took their relationship to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. They never met in person. Over the weeks, he promised to marry the woman, a native of Kasaragod town.

Once he won her trust, Shetty told her that he wanted to start a clinic but fell short of Rs 10 lakh for the venture. "She had her doubts because he was clueless when she mentioned any medical terms or health conditions. She also trusted him because he sold her hopes of marrying her," said the inspector. So she decided to help him with Rs 8 lakh.

Shetty then sent across the bank details of his friend Vinay in Andhra Pradesh. She first transferred Rs 7.57 lakh and the remaining Rs 43,000 in three instalments.

As soon as he got the money, Shetty closed his accounts on social media, dumped his WhatsApp number, and went incommunicado.

Soon, the woman approached the Cyber Crime police in Kasaragod.

Police tracked down Vinay and found that Shetty went to Andhra Pradesh and took the money from him in cash.

Police also found that one of the phone numbers Shetty shared with the complainant turned active once in a while.

"We traced the number of an address in Mangaluru and found that it belonged to Shetty's in-laws," inspector Premsadan said.

Shetty had married two years ago and his wife taught at a private university in Mangaluru. "They are well settled with a monthly income of more than Rs 1 lakh," he said. Just like Vinay, his wife, too, had no idea about Shetty's activities on matrimonial sites, said the police.

But Shetty kept shifting cities and told his wife that it was related to his work. "He frequently moved between Mangaluru, Mumbai and Bengaluru and Hyderabad," said the officer. But he was always on the police radar.

When he returned to his house on Thursday, inspector Premsadan, sub-inspector Ajith P K and their team swooped down and arrested him.

Shetty has been charged with cheating (Section 420 of IPC) and cheating by impersonation using communication devices (Section 66 D of the IT Act).

"He told us that he duped the woman to escape to another country," said Premsadan.

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