Family of three held for robbing men looking for brides online

Police tracked them using one of their phone numbers and secured them when they returned to the city from Kerala. They were booked under Sections 392, 420 and 406 of IPC and were remanded in judicial custody. 

The racket was busted after G Kalicharan (42), an engineer and divorcee, met a woman named ‘Priya’ on a popular matrimonial site. She invited Kalicharan to a mall in Vadapalani on October 23, and then to meet her brothers at a house nearby. When he reluctantly went there, two men assaulted Kalicharan and took away his phone and jewels. Before leaving the premises, they also took his signature on stamped papers.

Vadapalani inspector Chandru told DT Next that this has been the trio’s modus operandi since 2010. They were arrested thrice and had been detained under Goondas Act once, but continued with this, he said. 

Their targets were middle-aged divorced men whom they would lure through matrimonial sites using fake profile. Once the man expressed interest, they would invite him to a secluded place and rob him. Savithri has a daughter who is married and settled in Kerala, said the police, adding that the gang used to escape to Kerala after each robbery, returning only after a little while.

Though many men have lost their money and jewels to them, not many have filed complaint fearing embarrassment, suspect the police, adding an instance in Coimbatore where they threatened a 70-year-old man and escaped with his car.