Conman who duped elderly women of money, gold arrested

KOCHI: Police on Saturday arrested a person who duped women pedestrians promising to arrange loans in Kochi. The arrested is Mohammad Mustafa, 43, of Koliyoor, Kasaragod. On June 15, the accused met a 55-year-old woman who was walking near the Padma theatre area. Musthafa told the woman that he is from the place where her daughter is married. He told her that he was going to the bank as it is the last date to apply for a lockdown-related loan. “He asked the victim whether she had applied for the loan. Unfamiliar with such a loan, the accused promised the victim to arrange all papers and get the loan amount immediately.  They took an autorickshaw to an office building near High Court Junction,” a police officer said.

The accused had an eye on the gold chain worn by the victim. “Outside the office, Musthafa asked the woman to remove the gold chain so that bank officials would think that she has financial issues. He secured the chain saying he will keep it safe and return it once she comes out of the office. When the woman entered the building, the accused escaped from the place,” a police officer said. Similarly, on June 19, Musthafa cheated another 70-year-old woman who was returning after withdrawing money at the treasury in Kochi. This time he introduced himself as a neighbour of the woman.

He told her that his relative is seriously sick and requested Rs 17,500 from her. He promised to deposit the money into her account soon.  “After going through cases of similar nature and detailed probe, we zeroed in on Musthafa and found that he was behind the cheating incidents. Recently, we received information that he was staying somewhere in Perumbavoor. Following an investigation, we took him into custody from Perumbavoor. He has two wives and now he is staying with another woman at Perumbavoor,” a police officer said.

He was brought to Ernakulam Central police station where the complaints in two recent cheating cases were registered and his arrest was recorded. The police found the accused has 15 cheating cases against him registered at Taliparamba, Kannur, Pazhayangadi, Payyannur, Thrissur and Mangaluru. The arrest was made by a team under the supervision of ACP K Lalji and coordinated by Ernakulam Central SHO Vijayashankar.