The Thoraipakkam police have arrested a couple who robbed a young woman of jewellery by posing as recruiters for a private television channel.
The police said the victim, Minimol, 27, from Parakkavattuvillai in Kanniyakumari, was staying with her friends in Guindy. She recently came across an advertisement on an online portal for a news reader’s post. She contacted the advertiser, and was told that a woman would pick her up as the screen test would be conducted at a hotel in Thoraipakkam. She was advised to wear jewellery for the test.
She met the woman in T. Nagar and went with her to the hotel. She was then led by an unidentified man to a room, where the couple pretended to conduct an interview for the job. They told her to remove her jewellery and use the bathroom to wash her face, on the pretext of applying make-up for the test. While Ms. Minimol was in the bathroom, the couple locked the door from outside and fled with the jewellery.
The hotel manager, who used a spare key to enter the room as the TV volume was very high, found Ms. Minimol locked up. Realising that she had been cheated, she lodged a complaint.
The police traced the suspects and identified them as Raven Bistro, 30, of Theni district, and Deepa alias Shenbagavalli, 38, of Thiruvanmiyur. They were arrested in Palavakkam on Saturday. Inquiries revealed that Shenbagavalli got separated from her husband and married Raven Bistro, the manager of a popular non-vegetarian restaurant.
“Deciding to make a quick buck, they posted fake advertisements on the portal, inviting aspirants for film artist or news reader roles,” an officer said.
