Chennai: Tiruvallur police arrested a member of a gang that had been going on a purchase spree and paying in cheques that bounced.
The gang was involved in bulk purchase of fans, computers and other office articles using the name of local colleges and other institutions by paying the dealers in cheques after making minimum payment in cash.
However, the conning saga came to an end on Thursday when the gang of Jagannathan from Tirumullavoyil approached a computer shop near district head post office and gave a bulk order.
The gang said that they would pay Rs 2,000 while the rest of the amount will be paid in cheque. The shop owner and employees already aware of the gang, which was cheating by making cheque payment with no money in bank, became alert and tried to detain the three members of the gang. They could overpower Jagannathan while his associates Babu and Mani escaped.
Jagannathan was handed over to the police later. Police estimates that the gang had made bulk purchase from at least 10 shops in and around Tiruvallur town and conned all of them by issuing cheques but with no funds in banks.
“Every shop they had purchased articles worth Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh saying they ran an agency which handles contract works for big colleges and other institutions. Believing it, the shops delivered the goods.
Luckily the traders had informed each other about the modus operandi of the gang of fraudsters and that led to the arrest of one member of the gang,” the police said.
