Hyderabad: A 26-year-old man has been arrested for cheating the families of people who had gone missing by telling them that he would tell them the whereabouts of the missing person if they paid him.
Police said the Shiva Kumar from Bengaluru, used to stay at lodges in Hyderabad and note down contact numbers on the look-out notices displayed at railway stations and bus stations. He would then call the numbers and tell the familes of the missing persons that in exchange of money he would lead them to that person.
“He would ask them to deposit the amount through Vodafone’s m-paisa mobile application. But once the money was deposited, he would switch off his mobile phone,” said DCP B. Limba Reddy. He also used to threaten the families that they would never see the missing person if they did not pay.
“To call the victims, he procured sim cards with different numbers by submitting fake ids. And to avoid being identified, he changed his location frequently. Till now he has used 25 sim cards to call his victims,” Mr Reddy added.
Even police officials had accompanied the family members of the missing persons in some cases and had spoken to Kumar. His victims were spread over Hyderabad, Vizag, Vijayawada, Chennai, Bengaluru and Lucknow.
On June 1, Kumar called up one person saying that he knew the location of his missing brother and told him that he was working in a factory in Abids and asked him to come there. “When he reached Abids, Shiva Kumar told him to deposit money. After receiving Rs 11,500, he started demanding more without giving any information,” the DCP added.
He had also cheated another person of Rs 5,900. Police seized Rs 11,000 from him and sent him to judicial custody.
