Couple offers newsreader job, cons woman aspirant

Minimol (27) of Kanniyakumari, who stays in Guindy with friends, came across an advertisement for newsreader job on OLX a few days ago.

When she called the contact number given in the ad, she was told that a woman would pick her up for the screen test at a hotel in Thoraipakkam and that she should wear jewellery for the test.

Believing them, Minimol went with the woman on a two-wheeler. A man who received them at the hotel took them to a room where she was asked to remove her jewellery to wash her face to apply makeup. However, Minimol could not step out of the restroom since the duo had locked the door from outside and escaped with jewellery. The victim was rescued by the hotel manager who opened the door with spare keys when he went to check the room as the TV volume was too loud.

Later, she lodged a complaint at Thoraipakkam police station and a special team was formed to nab the accused. With the help of CCTV footage retrieved from the hotel, the accused were identified as Raven Bistro (30) of Theni district and Deepa alias Shenbagavalli (38) of Tiruvanmiyur. They were picked up from a house in Palavakkam. Investigation revealed that Shenbagavalli, who used to work as a home guard in Tiruvanmiyur and Neelankarai police stations, separated from her husband and married Raven Bistro, who used to work as a manager of a popular restaurant chain, recently.

While the couple had been running a manpower agency to provide housemaids, they decided to make a quick buck with fake advertisements about job opportunities. "That's how Minimol became a victim. Shenbagavalli herself picked up the victim from T Nagar and introduced herself as an assistant to Raven Bistro. The accused booked the hotel room in the victim's name using her Aadhaar number not to get caught by police. They asked Minimol to remove her jewellery since they won't look good in photos and asked her to wear the artificial jewellery they had. They also kept the TV volume high so that the victim's voice is not heard outside," said police.

The stolen jewellery was retrieved from the couple and they were remanded on Saturday.