The Saravanampatti Police have arrested five persons on charges of cheating several persons to the tune of several lakhs rupees by selling fake kalasams. While three of the accused were arrested on Thursday, two others were arrested on Friday night. According to the police, R. Saran alias Saravanan (32) of Kalapatti was allegedly cheated by a few persons while trying to buy a kalasam at Udumalpet about two years ago. “He later made friends with seven other persons of Kerala, Chennai and Tiruvannamalai and tried to cheat rich persons by claiming that they had ancient kalasams that had the power of iridium,” the Police said. The accused had lured people claiming that those who bought the kalasam would gain wealth. The arrested were identified as Saravanan, Musthafa Nishar (30) of Malapuram, Ramesh (42), Chennai, and Needhi Mohan (30) and Gajendran (47) of Tiruvannamalali. They were remanded in custody. The police also seized a few electronic gadgets and other items from them.
The arrested persons were booked under Sections 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) r/w 511 (Punishment for attempting to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code. Search was on for three other persons Haneefa of Kochi, Abdul Rasheed from Kottakkal and Nishar from Kerala, police said.