The Kothamangalam police on Friday arrested the key accused in a case in which job aspirants were allegedly cheated after being promised employment abroad.
The arrested is Shajahan, 36, of Chavakkad, Thrissur, who resides in Mysuru. He had allegedly cheated siblings of ₹6.14 lakh by promising them jobs in the United Kingdom. He had around 30 similar cases against him across the State, the police said.
According to the police, he had a wide network of friends, which he exploited to identify potential targets. His friends used to canvass people for commission by promising work visa. The Kothamangalam police have found that a person in Thiruvananthapuram had introduced 13 job aspirants and another person in Kothamangalam had introduced four persons to Shajahan.
The accused was found to have four SIMs, including one from the U.K. The accused never personally met the victims, but got them to transfer money online after interacting with them through video calls. He reportedly used to lure the victims by convincing them about connections in the U.K. and the many placements he had secured for job aspirants there.
The police have traced transactions worth around ₹30 crore through his two accounts. He is believed to have more accounts. He was allegedly found in possession of three voter’s ID cards and three passports bearing addresses of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
A special squad formed by the District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) Vaibhav Saxena nabbed him from a village in Meenakshipuram where he was living in hiding. He attacked the police team and tried to flee, only to be chased down. A fake passport, passports of job aspirants, cheque books, and a promissory note were seized from his car.
A team comprising Inspector P.T. Bijoy, sub inspectors Albin Sunny and T.R. Devassy, and senior civil police officers T.R. Sreejith and Niyas Meeran nabbed the accused.
