Thambi may be old, but he got new gen methods of cheating; lakhs lost to many people

PEROORKADA: The police arrested a man who extorted lakhs of rupees from several people by advertising that he would lend out his house. Sreekumaran Thambi, a native of Sasthamangalam Pipinmoodu, was arrested by the Peroorkada police.

The police said that he had been fooling many clients for over a year by showing them a house. An advertisement will be placed in the newspaper that the house at Pipinmoodu in which he lives is for lend. When people call after seeing the ad, he takes an advance and agrees to hand over the keys on another day. Without handing over the keys on the said day, Sreekumaran Thampi would walk away giving various reasons. His method was to compromise with the party by paying half of the money if payers approached the police.

He was caught when the Peroorkada police investigated the complaint filed by four people who had lost money after being cheated in this way. He committed a fraud of Rs 35 lakhs. Srikumaran Thambi, who went on the run after learning that the police investigation had started, was arrested yesterday morning. Some other victims of fraud also came to the station after getting the information about his arrest. Sreekumaran Thambi's relatives sent them back with a promise to pay all of them soon. The police informed that there are cases in various stations against Sreekumaran Thampi, a contractor who builds and sells houses. The accused was remanded.