CHENNAI: A 73-year-old man was arrested by the Chennai Airport police for attempting to cheat a man by promising a job in the Customs Department at the airport.
Sankaraiah (73) of Renigunta in Andhra Pradesh was staying in Alandur and was frequently seen roaming around the airport area.
While travelling on the MTC bus a few days ago, Sankaraiah was heard speaking over the phone about a vacancy in the Customs Department at Chennai airport.
Ramamoorthy of Mahalakshmi Nagar in Tambaram, who was seated nearby, overheard the conversation.
Ramamoorthy told Sankaraiah that his daughter was an engineering graduate and asked whether he could help her secure the job.
Sankaraiah told him that an application form would cost Rs 2,500 and that he would charge another Rs 500 for arranging the job. Believing him, Ramamoorthy paid Rs 3,000.
Sankaraiah assured him that his daughter would get the job in two days and asked him to provide financial assistance later. He contacted Ramamoorthy again on Wednesday and claimed that it was the last day to submit the application.
He asked him to bring Rs 65,000 to pay Customs officers and meet him near the Metro station's entrance inside the airport premises.
Ramamoorthy arrived with cash, but got suspicious when Sankaraiah demanded money. He then caught hold of him and handed him over to the Chennai Airport police.
During interrogation, police found that Sankaraiah had been cheating people by claiming that he could arrange jobs at the airport.
Police arrested him, produced him before the Alandur court and remanded him in Puzhal prison.
The police are also planning to seek his custody for further questioning to find out whether he had cheated other people using the same modus operandi.