Couple arrested for cheating 81-yr-old man

Coimbatore: The district crime branch (DCB) of rural police arrested a couple on Friday for cheating an elderly Vellanaipatti resident by pledging his land document for Rs 5 lakh.

The arrested people were identified as K G Sudha, 43, wife of Ganeshamurthy and D Arockiya Charles, 44, of Kannampalayam near Sulur. “In 2018, Sudha approached P Masagounder, 81, of Vellanaipatti, who was staying in his house worth Rs 50 lakh and told him that he is eligible for a Rs 2 lakh subsidy from the Union government. She asked him to give power of attorney to Charles to get the money. Masagounder did so and Charles transferred Masagounder’s property to Sudha’s name. He also prepared a forged document showing that he had given a cheque worth Rs 13 lakh to Masagounder. Sudha pledged the property in a private bank for Rs 5 lakh,” a police officer said.

Masagounder’s relatives, who came to know about the misdeed, prompted him to lodge a police complaint.

Police registered an FIR against the couple and four others on December 31. DCB police sub-inspector Baskaran and team arrested Sudha and Charles on Friday. They were remanded in judicial custody. Charles was lodged in the Pollachi sub-jail and Sudha in the special prison for women at the Coimbatore Central Prison. tnn