A retired colonel running a security service in Tambaram was allegedly relieved of Rs 80 lakh by a trio, including a woman, who posed as persons well connected with trustees of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and promised to deploy his 450 men as guards on the famous temple premises.
Chennai:
Colonel D R Kumar, 72, told this newspaper that a complaint was lodged with Chennai police last month, which has been handed over to CCB sleuths.
The money was extracted from him in different instalments from July to November 2019, in the form of cash and digital transaction as per the instructions from three suspects.
“The woman stays in Hyderabad, while one man is from Chennai and the other from Tirupati” Colonel noted. They had even despatched ‘officials’ from TTD to verify his company’s background and work culture. Another team came and took pictures of his staff working in various locations. All these forced the Colonel to believe everything was going on in the right direction.
“Rs 50 lakh was collected as a refundable amount while the rest was taken from me at the temple citing various expenses,” he recalled.
“But after November last year, there was no progress. Then I send my office staff to check the background of the three only to find I was being taken for a ride,” he said.