Conman traps dry fruits seller with cashew nuts

The police identified the victim as Venkatesh (42), who owns a dry fruit shop in Avvai Shanmugam Salai in Royapettah. He is a native of Erode.

According to the police, he received a call from a man, who identified himself as Anandan, around 10 am on Saturday. The man, claiming to be a cashew nut wholesale trader, told Venkatesh that he was willing to sell 300kg of nuts for Rs 50,000. The caller also referred another trader named Balaji, who is known to Venkatesh.

Believing the offer, Venkatesh went to Balaji’s shop in Muthialpet to meet Anandan. There, he was threatened by a gang, which snatched his ATM card and withdrew Rs 50,000 from a kiosk. The gang had also snatched his chain.

“It is possible that Balaji was also involved in the crime. We are probing to know if there was any financial dispute between them and the suspect used it to lure Venkatesh to the trap, the police said.