Chenna

Man arrested for deepavali chit scam

He collected ₹600 each from 195 persons for 12 months

The District Crime Branch police arrested a 32-year-old man for cheating 195 persons of ₹14.04 lakh, here on Saturday evening.

Police identified the accused as V. Karthikeyan of Vettavalam Road in Tiruvannamalai Town. Karthikeyan ran a Deepavali chit scheme in 2018 and collected ₹600 each from 195 persons for 12 months through his contacts in local villages.

He had assured the depositors of a two-grams gold coin, 25 grams silver, a box of sweets and a gift hamper with fire crackers. When he failed to keep his promise, the depositors urged him to return their money. After a couple of months, he stopped answering depositors’ phone calls, evading them.

Based on a complaint from one of the depositors, the police conducted a probe and arrested Karthikeyan under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. He was remanded to custody.

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