BENGALURU: Two fraudsters who were using a free classified ads portal to cheat people, promising them escort service have been nabbed after a decoy operation by the police on Monday.
Based on a tipoff, the police found that the main accused, Arjun, was running an advertisement on the website, Locanto, offering high-profile escort service in Indiranagar. But it was a fake ad and a trick to deceive people. While Shivu (27) and Yesudas (33) have been arrested, Arjun is absconding.
“We had received information about people being cheated on the pretext of offering escort service. We had planned a few days ago to catch them red-handed,” a senior police official told Deccan Chronicle.
The trap
A decoy customer called one of the given numbers in the advertisement. Arjun, who received the call, told the customer to pay Rs 15,000 to avail of the service for one night. The customer, however, struck a deal for Rs 10,000.
The next day, Arjun called the customer and asked him to come to 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar. The customer was asked to hand over the money to Yesudas and Shivu, who after receiving money asked the customer to meet Arjun on the third floor of the building.
“We got the confirmation from the decoy customer, following which we nabbed the culprits,” the police said. “When we reached the third floor searching for Arjun, we found the place to be empty. A manhunt has been launched to arrest him.”
