Judicial Magistrate-I, Nagercoil, has sentenced a man to three years imprisonment and also imposed a fine of ₹22,000 for cheating BSNL to the tune of ₹19,09,242 in 2003. He had obtained two postpaid connections by providing bogus information.
The Judicial Magistrate convicted T. Maridurai of Tirunelveli district to undergo the sentences concurrently. He was booked for cheating, forgery and using as genuine a forged document under the relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code. He was convicted in two connected cases.
Maridurai is said to have obtained two postpaid connections from BSNL in 2003 with national and international calling facilities at the Nagercoil branch. He had given BSNL a bogus name and address to obtain the connections. He had also furnished bogus documents in order to obtain the postpaid connections.
After getting the postpaid connection, he is said to have made phone calls to various places, especially to foreign countries. He cheated BSNL to the tune of ₹19,09,242 between June 12, 2003 and July 31, 2003, without remitting the amount.
The CB-CID took over the investigation in the case in 2004 and filed the chargesheet against Maridurai. A total of 38 witnesses were examined in the case.
