Former CRPF policeman assured jobs to 60 youth, duped them of Rs 3 crore

Visakhapatnam: A former CRPF constable and his associate were arrested on Friday for cheating 60 youths of Rs 3 crore by promising them jobs in the Railways. The accused were identified as Hanumantu Ramesh and his alleged girlfriend Praveena. The City Task Force police will hand over the duo to Pendurthi police for further investigation.

Elaborating on the details of the case, a police officer of the task force said that Ramesh, a native of Shekarapuram in Meliyaputti mandal of Srikakulam district, duped the youth by posing as a two-town SI. He was recruited as constable in CRPF. While serving in Jammu and Kashmir, he was suspended and later removed from service, allegedly due to long leave.

After his expulsion, he moved to Visakhapatnam and lived in Pendurthi. However, he introduced himself as a police officer and even wore the uniform to make people believe him. Later, he married a woman identified as Lalita. He reportedly had an extramarital affair with his sister-in-law Sarita.
Explaining his modus operandi, the officer said Ramesh contacted local unemployed youth and promised to help them get jobs, adding that he had contacts with railway officials. About 15 innocent youth believed him and paid him Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh in the hope of getting a job. The accused also allegedly handed over fake appointment letters to the youth. In an effort to ensure that the youth did not suspect him, Ramesh also took them to the Secunderabad DRM office on the pretext of a training programme.

However, he made the young man wait outside and went inside the office alone. An hour later, he told them that the training program had been rescheduled. He allegedly created a fake website, using which he would frequently send messages to youth, telling them that the training program had been rescheduled.
Meanwhile, he made another batch and cheated them too. During this time he met Praveena. He had approached them demanding jobs for himself and his brother. He allegedly paid her Rs 12 lakh. In such a situation, Ramesh returned the money to him. He allegedly trapped her and started living with her in Vishalakshinagar.

After this, both of them formed another group of 20 youth and cheated them in the same way. When they failed to provide jobs, the youth started pressurizing them. Subsequently, Ramesh and Praveena fled to Telangana and remained out of touch. With the help of technical evidence they traced both of them and arrested them. The task force police said they have seized police uniform, belt, shoes, laptop, hard disk and CPU from his house.