Two held in Madurai for cheating physically challenged person

MADURAI: Two women have been arrested by T Kallupatti police in Madurai district on Saturday after being charged with cheating a physically handicapped person, Madurai Superintendent of Police R Shiva Prasad said.

Those arrested are identified as Praveena (31) and Saranya (30) of Kaliamman Koil Street, Kadambur, Thoothukudi district. A video that went viral on social media showed a man leveling serious allegations against a cop in Virudhunagar and his wife were indulging in the unlawful act of usury and threatening complainants. The video caught the police attention and investigations revealed that it’s not a case of usury (kandhuvatti), but concerned with online trade transactions.

Further investigations revealed that Ramkumar (24), the physically challenged from M Subbulapuram village near Kallupatti, Madurai got introduced to Praveena, the key accused, through the cop’s wife, his relative. Earlier, Praveena was approached through the cop’s wife seeking financial aid to get artificial limbs for Ramkumar last year. Praveena then brain washed Ramkumar to invest money for online trade since he could not work physically and promised him of good returns. He lost huge amounts of money through the online trade. Ramkumar gave large amounts of money to the tune of Rs 2.52 lakh to Praveena, who gave Rs 1.15 lakh in return.

The frustrated Ramkumar in December last attempted to commit suicide at Madurai Collectorate seeking action against Praveena and demanded his money back. On December 28, 2021, T Kallupatti police filed a case against 14 persons including Praveena under Sections 417 and 420 of IPC. Based on her complaint, Kadambur police filed a case against Ramkumar and 13 others under Sections 294 (b), 506 (i) and Section 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment Act and Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, sources said.