JOIN USSHG scam: Cops nab fraudsters using video footage
The police have nabbed three persons who raised funds illegally from women self-help groups (SHGs) on the pretext of providing them loans, by using the video footage of the trio shot by one of the vitims as a crucial lead.
The arrested are: H C Pradeep Kumar, 33, a resident of Kanakapura Main Road and a native of Chikkamagaluru district; N Sunil Kumar, 28, from Talaghattapura, and C Mallikarjun, 37, from Basavakalyan in Bidar district. Two other suspects, both natives of Bagalkot, are at large.
Interestingly, one of the victims had filmed the suspects on her phone when they were talking about their plan to dupe these women SHGs and make away with the money. She had also taken photographs of the suspects. The police used both these as crucial leads to nab the three, who were hiding in a house at Raghunahalli in Talaghattapura police limits. The police raided the house and arrested the suspects, said the police.
The three men raised around Rs 30 lakh from many women belonging to SHGs. The suspects, who opened a company on Kamakya Main Road in Banashankari II Stage, had approached women from several SHGs and told them that they will give them loans at lower interest rates for starting a business. They collected Rs 1,341 from each woman in the name of registration fee. Once the suspects collected the money, they closed their office and changed their mobile phone numbers. Some women from SHGs who were cheated approached the police a week ago and lodged a complaint.