Fraudsters in South run out of steam...Tirunelveli conman nabbed

Chennai: Less than a month after duping partners in Tirunelveli and nearby areas of goods worth Rs 21 lakh, Vijayan, Proprietor, Sri Vinayaga Agencies has finally been nabbed by the Tirunelveli Police.

The accused was caught based on a compliant lodged by P Kumar, CEO, Albedo Systems to whom Vijayan owed Rs 4 lakh. The accused took 10 Compaq desktops and three laptops from Albedo.

Police have recovered materials worth Rs 12 lakh from Vijayan and arrested his accomplice Tamil Arasan. However, the hunt is on for another accused Sairam.

Vijayan had procured materials from IT as well as electronic dealers by issuing fake cheques. He had been absconding since the last week of Dec 2008. Based on the dealer's complaint, the police were able to nab the fraudsters in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu while they were trying to liquidate the stock.

Manjunatha, Police Commissioner, Tirunelveli District informed that catching the fraudsters was possible owing to efforts of the Crime Branch Police. "The Crime Branch Police have put in incredible efforts to nab Vijayan, and recover goods worth Rs 12 lakh," he said.

Claiming that the police have done an excellent job in nabbing the culprits and helping dealers,

N Ananthavaradharajan, President, Computer Dealers Association, Tirunelveli said it was a lesson for Tirunelveli dealers. He advised dealers not to deal with any unknown customers.

...MITDA catches scamsters red handed

Quick thinking and sharing of vital information has helped Kozhikode-based Malabar IT Dealers Association (MITDA) to crack a laptop scam in the city and nab two of the accused. The fraudsters' plan was to purchase laptops using fake cheques and then flee the city, all this in half an hours time.

Shedding light on the chain of events, Vinodkumar, President, MITDA said, "Last week there was an inquiry for laptops in a few of the the popular IT shops in our city. Companies like Computer City, Automation Technologies, Infosight, Matrix Computers, quoted their rates over the phone for their brands. On Jan 13 the enquirers called up again to confirm the order and asked the dealers to pack the laptops they had ordered. They agreed to settle the payments against delivery and everything happened so naturally."

One of the dealers who was called had been a victim in a similar incident. He immediately informed Vinodkumar about these inquiries. On checking with other dealers, it was found that similar inquiries had happened in other shops as well. "Unfortunately, before we could caution them, Automation Technology had closed the order by receiving a cheque and the party left their shop with the laptops. When the status of the cheque was verified, it was identified as a fake as expected," Vinodkumar said.

The association called up all available members in the city and asked them to gather in a showroom, where the fraudsters were expected to come and collect the laptops. "After a dramatic scene, we caught two of the fraudsters, who have been identified as Riaz and Shajan, and handed over them to the police. The other two, who were in the car waiting for

their associates, fled the spot and are being scouted by the police," said Vinodkumar. He added that the thieves could be caught only because of the co-operation of members. The dealers have filed an FIR with Madakaeu Police Station in Calicut. Vinodkumar informed that the police have been questioning the remanded accused and have got some valuable information about the other thefts.