Job seekers duped of Rs 4.5L in Kovai, 1 held

According to police, the accused identified as Manish Kumar alias Vivek Kumar, a resident of Lucknow, had approached Arthy (26), who was operating a job consultancy firm in Coimbatore, through Facebook.

“The accused assured Arthy that he would arrange for jobs, following which she put seven aspirants, who approached her firm, into direct contact with him. He convinced them to pay Rs 4.5 lakh in total through online mode. He then failed to honour his promise and switched off his mobile as well,” police said.

Subsequently, the victims along with Arthy lodged a complaint with Race Course police station. The cops lured Manish by contacting him through Arthy, who told him that she had collected Rs 10 lakh from a few more job seekers.

However, she asked him to come down to Coimbatore to collect the money citing the restrictions imposed by the election model code of conduct. Believing this, Manish came to Coimbatore by flight on Thursday night to receive the cash. A police team, who were waiting at the Coimbatore International Airport, caught him red-handed. The accused was lodged at the central prison here on Friday.