Siblings take cameras on rent, sell them pretending to be cinematographers

KOCHI: A 31-year-old man and his brother, who allegedly committed fraud by taking cameras on rent and selling them to gullible customers on OLX or through middlemen in a bid to make a quick buck, have had their cover blown off. While  Shine of Puthenveettil, Charuvila, Punalur, the older of the two siblings, landed in the police net,  his brother Shaiju managed to flee abroad. Shine took the cameras and lenses on rent while pretending to be  a cinematographer, Shine  was arrested by the North police for selling DSLR cameras and video cameras after taking them on rent from professionals associated with the movie industry. Under the guise of a cinematographer, Shine took cameras and lenses on rent. 

The fraud came to light after a Kochi native lodged a police complaint. Officers said a lookout notice will be issued against Shaiju, brother of the accused. Eight high-end cameras worth several lakh have been recovered by the police so far. 

Last April, Shine had rented a camera and lenses from Sivaprakash hailing from Pulleppady. He took the camera for film shooting and other activities on a rent of Rs 3,000 per day. A few days later, when the rent was not paid and the camera was not returned, Sivaprakash tried to contact Shine on the phone, but it was switched off. Subsequently, he lodged a complaint and a case was registered at the North police station. The camera and accessories cost  Rs.3 lakh.

On investigation,  police found out that the camera and the lenses had been sold. Further, it emerged that he had committed such frauds across the state. Interestingly, he approached those planning to sell their car and  told them he would buy the car and clear the pending loan of the vehicle. To win their trust, he used to pay the car owner a token amount in advance.When the owner approached him demanding the rest of amount, he handed over the cameras and lenses in exchange for the money, said a police officer. In these dealings, for the transactions done by Shine the identity card details and mobile phone number of Shaiju was given and vice versa. 

When the victims contacted them over the phone, they responded that it was done without their knowledge. Shine has done cameos in a few films. He ran the fraud using the photographs of him along with film stars at shooting sets.There are similar cases registered against Shine at various police stations, officers said.