Kerala fraudster with Pakistan handlers arrested by Hyderabad cops

HYDERABAD: A Kerala-based fraudster who connived with handlers in Pakistan to defraud people was arrested by Hyderabad police investigating a complaint lodged here on Monday. The accused has been arrested by Kerala police twice in the past and is wanted by Andhra Pradesh police in Chittoor.

The Cyber Crime Police of Central Crime Station (CCS), Hyderabad arrested Sulaiman Kutty, a resident of Cherpulassery in Palakkad of Kerala for collecting money from people on the pretext of a fraud called Airtel Lucky lottery.

Police found out that Kutty had received 10 per cent commission for acting on behalf of his handlers, while his contact in India was one Nasir, a



hawala racketeer, from Kerala. According to police, Sudhamani, the complainant — a 26-year-old staff nurse at Asian Institute of Gastroenterology — received a phone call last November informing her that she had won Rs 50 lakh under “Airtel Cellular company’s lucky lottery”.

She was asked to pay Rs 8,000 towards changing her pin code. She ended up paying up to Rs 5.34 lakh. She finally registered a case on January 31.

Police narrowed in on Kutty by identifying the tower locations of the beneficiaries of the money transfers, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), CCS, Avinash Mohanty. The accused was brought to Hyderabad to be produced before the Court.