Couple cheat jobseekers of Rs 50 lakh in Coimbatore, on the run

COIMBATORE: The city crime branch has formed a special team to nab a 39-year-old woman, who posed as a doctor working in ESI hospital, and her husband, for cheating several people of Rs 50 lakh by promising them jobs in the hospital.
Complainant P Nufail, 23, of SRS Nagar at Sulur, told police that his friend N Pradeep, 22, of Sulur, had introduced him to Dhanya.“Pradeep, who was her car driver, said she was working in ESI hospital and can get jobs in the hospital. I met her to enquire about job opportunities and later gave her Rs 3 lakh to get a job for my sister, who was pursuing a career in nursing,” he said.
“Dhanya contacted me in September 2021 and told me that she can get me a clerical post in the hospital for Rs 5 lakh. I met her and her husband Karunanidhi in their apartment in Singanallur on September 18, 2021. They asked me to pay Rs 2 lakh first and the rest in instalments. I transferred the amount to their accounts on September 20 and 21 and gave Rs 3 lakh in cash,” Nufail said.
“Dhanya contacted me in November 2021 to hand over an appointment letter. But the letter said I can join duty as an attender on December 12, 2021. When I asked her why I was not given the clerical post, she said she would sort out the issue soon.”
Dhanya and Karunanidhi told Nufail that there were several vacancies in the hospital and asked him to find people interested in them. “I told my friends about the opportunities and eight of them gave Rs 50 lakh to the couple. The couple asked us to visit Chennai in February to attend an inquiry, where a person collected our original certificates. We were asked to stay there for five days. When we tried to contact the couple again, their phones were switched off. We came to know that they had cheated several youths by promising them jobs and issued fake offer letters,” Nufail added.
Based on Nufail’s complaint, CCB inspector Renuga registered a case against the couple under sections 120 (B), 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code on Friday.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the couple had cheated P Murugan, 25, of SLS Nagar at Sulur, of Rs 15 lakh by promising him a job in the hospital. Based on his complaint, the Singanallur police had registered a cheating case against the couple in March 2022.
“The couple adopted same modus operandi to cheat people in Madurai. We believe they cheated hundreds of youths in and around in Coimbatore district and pocketed more than Rs 2 crore,” said a police officer.