Couple arrested for cheating people of Rs 59 lakh by promising Coimbatore ESI Hospital jobs

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore city crime branch police have arrested a 39-year-old woman, who posed as a doctor working in ESI Hospital, and her husband for cheating several people of around Rs 59 lakh on the promise of getting jobs in the hospital. The couple were arrested from a hideout in Kerala on Friday.
The arrested couple have been identified as Dhanya and her husband Karunanidhi, 40. The case was registered in June based on a complaint from P Nufail, 23, of SRS Nagar at Sulur in June. Based on the complaint, CCB inspector P Renuga registered a case against the couple under sections 120 (B), 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code on June 24.
Dhanya and Karunanidhi told Nufail that there were several vacancies in the hospital and asked him to find people interested in them. He informed his friends. Around 10 people gave a total of Rs 59 lakh. Each of them gave anywhere between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.
The couple gave appointment orders to a few people. But when they checked the authenticity of the appointment orders, they found them to be fake. When they tried to contact the duo, their phones were switched off.
A preliminary inquiry revealed that it was not the first time that the couple were involved in cheating. The Singanallur police registered a case in March 2022 based on a complaint of P Murugan of SLS Nagar. Cases were also registered against them at a police station in Kochi and at Subramaniapuram police station in Madurai. The Kochi police and the Subramaniapuram police were also searching for the couple.
Inquiries conducted by inspector Renuga revealed that the duo was hiding in a place near Kannur in Kerala. A police team reached there. The couple tried to escape from their hideout. The police team traced them and caught them from Kannur bus terminal.
They were brought to Coimbatore and remanded in judicial custody.