Woman arrested for cheating a techie worth Rs.41 lakhs

Coimbatore, Jan 13: : A day after arresting 21-year-old Shruthi P, who allegedly cheated an NRI software engineer of Rs 41 lakh by promising to marry him, the cyber crime cell of the city police on Friday seized seven iPhones, 30 sovereigns of gold ornaments, a diamond necklace and a luxury car from her apartment at Nava India, where she was staying with three of her accomplices, including her mother and brother. Police have also seized four passports.

The gang was staying in the apartment paying a monthly rent of Rs 20,000, police sources said. "We found cosmetics worth Rs 4 lakh from her residence and seized 14 mobile phones, including seven latest iPhones. Shruthi told us that whenever a new iPhone model was launched, she used to buy several using the money she got from cheating others. In fact, all the gang members were using iPhones" a police officer told TOI.

The police team was led by city crime branch police inspector Kalaiyarasi. Police are planning to take custody of Shruthi after the Pongal festival.

Shruthi, a failed actress, had contacted G Balamurugan, a native of Kattuvalavu near Edappadi in Salem district who working in an automobile company in Germany, in May 2017 after noticing his profile on a matrimonial website. After she expressed the desire to marry him, Balamurugan visited Coimbatore and presented her a diamond necklace and gold ornaments. When she told him that she was undergoing treatment for brain tumour and her mother was suffering from heart ailment, the man gave her Rs 41 lakh in various instalments. However, when he asked her to take a photo with him, she refused.

Balamurugan, who later came to know that he was cheated by Shruthi, filed a police complaint against her, her mother Chitra, younger brother Subash and Prasanna Venkatesh, who was posing as her father. Police detained them on Wednesday night and remanded them in judicial custody on Thursday night.