Kerala Police arrested an army nurse for posing as a bride aspirant on a matrimonial website and defrauding a Kochi native of Rs 15 lakh.
Kochi: Kerala Police arrested a woman lieutenant colonel for allegedly defrauding a Kochi native of Rs 15 lakh after posing as a bride aspirant on a matrimonial website. She was being tracked by Kerala Police after a man lodged a complaint.
The accused has been identified as Smitha, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, who works at the Pangode Military Camp and is a lieutenant colonel.
Reports say, Smitha created a fake account on the matrimonial site and claimed to be a hopeful bride seeking an alliance. She received a request from a man to whom she introduced herself as a Malayali girl, settled in Mumbai. The duo shared their contact numbers and communicated with each other often. She also told the victim that her family members were happy with their relationship.
However, according to the complainant, the woman would send her photos to him, but refused any video chats saying that it was wrong to video chat with each other before the wedding. After gaining the man's trust, the woman asked him for financial support. The man sent the accused Rs 15 lakh on her request.
She then stopped contacting the man after telling him that she was diagnosed with cancer and could not marry him.
However, then victim found a similar profile on the matrimonial site and began to suspect that had been conned.
He chatted with the person holding a similar profile and understood that there was hardly any difference between the two. He then informed police of the incident and Smitha was arrested.
Police suspect that more women are involved in this con and more arrests are yet to take place.
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