A trickster, who indulged in cheating senior citizens visiting the Government Rajaji Hospital for treatment, and took away their jewels, was arrested here on Wednesday. Police recovered 43 sovereigns of gold jewellery from the accused.
According to police officers, the accused, Kumaran (41) of Aruppukottai near here, was living in Ceylon Colony. He was married, but unemployed. However, he had the urge to make money through the shortest mode possible.
Hence, he decided to commit petty crimes and adopted tricks. For instance, Kumaran used to pose himself as a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) working in Aruppukottai.
He would intercept senior citizens at the GRH, who came with different types of ailments.
After a while, He would convince them of getting monetary benefits offered by the State government under various welfare schemes. To some others, he would identify himself as a distant relative, well settled in a government job.
Many gullible persons blindly believed the sugar coated words of Kumaran as true and obeyed his diktats faithfully, imagining that they would get some money, the police said and added that the accused He guided the victims (who expressed eagerness) to the nearest bank branch and gave them applications.
He would repeatedly say that he worked for the welfare of the aged persons and that he would not demand any money from them as commission. That the conversation was so cordial and caring, victims were mesmerised.
After stepping into the bank, at one stage, when the victims appeared to be convinced, Kumaran would suggest them to remove their jewels and hand them over to him since while submitting the application to the manager, there should not be any suspicion about the economic criterion of the beneficiaries. At this point, he would give a slip silently.
Following complaints, Inspector General and Commissioner of Police P. Kannappan had formed teams. When a member of the police team, who was on GRH campus, heard the tale of an aged woman narrating how she was cheated, the special team swung into action and zeroed in on Kumaran.
Based on his confession, police recovered 43 sovereigns of gold jewels and discreet probe revealed that the accused was involved in 17 crimes reported in Anna Nagar, Madhichiyam, Sellur. Thideer Nagar, Vilakuthoon and Thilagar Thidal police stations.
