The fee hike, they claimed, was done following all rules and regulations unanimously approved by an executive committee of the Parent-Teacher Association. A 22-year-old college dropout has been recently arrested at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) Airport for allegedly duping a flier of Rs 7,500 in January this year by cooking up a story of being in urgent need of money to buy an air ticket after missing a flight to Chandigarh for an examination. The accused ran out of luck on June 13 when the same flier spotted him at the airport and called the police control room.
Police said the accused had duped several people in the past and was out on bail after being arrested for a similar crime last year.
According to Sahar police, the accused, Modela Venkat Dineshkumar, 22, is a native of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and had duped the complainant, Raghunandan Thakre, a 27-year-old marine engineer from Wardha, on January 1.
Thakre told police he was waiting at the airport to take a flight to Nagpur when Dineshkumar approached him and pleaded for Rs 7,500 to buy a flight ticket. “He told me he has missed his flight and he would return me the money by online payment once he reaches Chandigarh. In good faith, I gave him the money but days later, when I called him up, he made fun of me and cut the call,” Thakre to police.
However, on June 13, Thakre was at the airport to catch a flight to Nagpur and happened to spot Dineshkumar moving around in a suspicious manner. Thakre called up the police control room which sent a team to the spot and Dineshkumar was detained for questioning.
Dinkar Shilvate, senior police inspector of Sahar police station, said, “Last year, the accused was arrested in a similar case by Hyderabad police. He used to buy a ticket to enter the airport premises and later cancel it. He was out on bail and committed the same crime. He has been remanded to police custody till June 16.”
Dineshkumar confessed to have duped 13 persons till now at Delhi Airport, Bengaluru Airport and Chennai Airport, collecting an amount worth Rs 1.73 lakh. To dupe his targets, he used to cook up a host of stories, ranging from his mother being sick to needing money to pay college fees, police said. He has been booked for criminal breach of trust and cheating under section 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), said police.
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