Jaya's 'relative' tricks Facebook friend into buying him iPhone

A youth who cheated a woman by claiming to be Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s relative, has been arrested.

The suspect has been identified as Nijanthan Jayaram, 25. He hails from Tamil Nadu and is a resident of Gowdanapalya on Subramanyapura Road in south Bengaluru. The police seized an iPhone and produced him before a court. He was remanded in judicial custody, police said.

Nijanthan completed his BSc from a reputed college in the City and was looking for a job. He had sent a friend request to one Veena on Facebook four months ago, which she accepted. He sent her a message claiming to be Jayalalithaa’s relative and claimed he could help her if she needed any favour in Tamil Nadu, police said.

After Veena became close to Nijanthan, he told her he wanted to gift her an iPhone and requested her to meet him at UB City on February 8.

When Veena met him there, he took her to a showroom in the mall, made her choose an iPhone worth Rs 60,000 and bought it. He claimed he had forgotten to carry his debit card and paid using Veena’s card, said the police.

He collected the iPhone from Veena on the pretext of downloading some applications. He told her he would return the iPhone and Rs 60,000 the following day and left, police said.

Veena grew suspicious as his mobile was switched off. She sent him a message on his Facebook account but got no response. Finally, she approached the police and lodged a complaint. The police traced him based on his Facebook details and call records and arrested him, police said.