By IANS,
Madurai (Tamil Nadu) : The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court rapped the police for not arresting a man who allegedly cheated several people to the tune of around Rs.20 million. It also dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of the accused.
Judge T. Sudanthiram Monday ordered Inspector N. Murugesan to arrest the accused, S. Purushottaman alias Srinivasan, on or before Sep 29 “without fail”. He faulted Murugesan for delaying the arrest of the accused for over a fortnight, said advocate N. Nanda Kumar, who appeared for seven people who were allegedly taken for a ride by 51-year-old Srinivasan and cheated of over Rs.17 million.
“Under different aliases the accused has cheated hundreds of people under pretexts of procuring goods for huge export orders, collecting the merchandise on credit and disappearing. In this case, he claimed to be operating from Dindigul in central Tamil Nadu under two aliases. I can cite at least two more cases wherein the amount is at least another Rs.3 million,” Kumar told IANS.
“While cases are pending against the accused in six different districts of the state under one name, he applied for anticipatory bail under a pseudonym. The real Srinivasan whose Dindigul address was used by the suspect for procuring tax registration numbers may end up being prosecuted for being an unwitting accomplice,” the advocate said.
Appearing for the accused, senior lawyer G.R. Edmund contested prosecution charges, saying his client was “a poor, honest victim of a conspiracy by unknown people”.
Srinivasan’s arrest is imminent since authorities in six districts are on the lookout for him, prosecution sources added.