16 June,2021 08:04 AM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
The fraudster, seen here with the cops, duped people into giving money after convincing them he was in trouble
Many movies have inspirational stories. But a movie or rather a scene from it, inspired a man to turn into a con artiste. He was arrested at the Mumbai international airport on Sunday after a man he had cheated earlier saw him trying to dupe another.
The Tamil film Soorarai Pottru, is about a man, played by actor Suriya, who starts a low cost airline. In the scene in which the actor in tears, tries in vain to ask passengers for money at an airport, as he is falling short to pay for a ticket to go see his ailing father, 22-year-old Andhra Pradesh resident, Srinivas, found 'his calling'.
Cops said Raghunandan Thakare, a resident of Wardha, met accused Modela Venkat Srinivas at the Mumbai airport in January. Thakare told police he was waiting to board a flight to Dubai when Srinivas approached him and said, "I want to go to Chandigarh for an exam, but the flight has gone and I have to pay another Rs 7,500 for the ticket to catch the next flight. I don't have enough money." He asked Thakare to give the money which he would return the next day.
Feeling sorry, Thakare sent Rs 7,500 to the accused's number through Google Pay. But the next day when he called for the money, the accused started mocking him in Kannada.
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"On Sunday when he returned from Dubai, Thakare saw Srinivas near the luggage counter asking for money from a passenger saying his mother was ill. Thakare immediately informed the police," said an officer from Sahar police station.
The police said Srinivas has confessed to cheating many people this way at the Delhi, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
A police officer said, "Srinivas would travel to various airports on cheap air tickets. There, he would mislead passengers into giving him money saying his mother was ill, or he wanted to take an exam." D Silwate, senior PI, Sahar police station said, "We arrested the accused on Sunday. He is in police custody."
