₹3.52 lakh recovered; trickster held

Dindigul

Prakash

, 33, son of Somasundaram of Nadar Mettu Street, Erode district, was arrested by a special team of police in Coimbatore and produced before a judicial magistrate court here on Saturday.

Following a complaint from Poovannakrishnan, 45, and six others from Eriodu, the Dindigul Town North Police had registered a case. DSP Manimaran was investigating.

According to the complainant, Prakash had lured gullible people through handbills that he would arrange loans for merchants and others through nationalised banks. Believing that to be true, the complainants had contacted Prakash. He demanded an advance, which too, they had agreed to give. On the appointed date, he came to Dindigul bus stand and received ₹5.40 lakh from them and told them to be ready with their identity cards and other details.

However, he was not traceable thereafter. His mobile phone was not reachable. When some of them visited his house in Erode, the people there said he was not there. When police conducted investigations, they found that the suspect was hiding in Coimbatore and a team secured him. He admitted to have received cash from the complainants but confessed to have spent it lavishly. The police recovered ₹3.52 lakh and a car from him. He was produced before the court. Further investigation is on.