Merchant Navy job scam: Agent dupes aspirants of Rs 25 lakh, arrested in Chennai
The arrested man was identified as Hariharan (44), of Kundrathur. Police said that Hariharan ran a job agency near the Tambaram Tahsildar office from 2023.

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CHENNAI: A 44-year-old man, who ran a consultancy firm promising jobs onboard Merchant ships and cheated aspirants of over Rs 25 lakh was arrested by the Tambaram city police on Sunday.
The arrested man was identified as Hariharan (44), of Kundrathur. Police said that Hariharan ran a job agency near the Tambaram Tahsildar office from 2023. Hariharan had posted ads on social media and distributed flyers claiming that he could get jobs onboard merchant ships for various job profiles, the police said.
However, he never got them the jobs and kept on dodging those who gave him money after which one of them, according to the police.
Following this, one of the victims, Manikandan (36), approached the police with a complaint in December 2024.
Subsequently, six others approached the police alleging that they too were cheated by Hariharan after which police registered a case and launched a search for Hariharan.
After two months, the police arrested Hariharan. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Search is on for his associate, Nirmala, police said.