Kasaragod: Melparamba police on Friday arrested Sruthi Chandrashekaran (32), accused of defrauding male police officers, bankers, and gym trainers of lakhs of rupees. A team led by Melparamba Station House Officer - Inspector K Santhosh Kumar arrested Sruthi from a lodge in Udupi in Karnataka.
She is accused of often posing as an ISRO employee, Income Tax sub-inspector, civil service aspirant or bank employee, and defrauding her victims by promising to marry them. Police said she would often press rape charges against her victims if they demanded their money back.
Sruthi was, however, arrested on a complaint filed by Akhilesh P M, a native of Poinachi. He told police that he met Sruthi on Instagram and accused her of taking Rs 1 lakh in small amounts and a gold chain weighing 8g from him, claiming her mother-in-law had cancer. When he realised he was being deceived and demanded the money back, she allegedly threatened to accuse him of sexual assault.
On his complaint, Melparamba Police booked Sruthi under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating using fake documents) and 405 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. If convicted, she would face up to seven years in prison.
On July 11, Kasaragod Sessions Judge Sanu S Panicker rejected Sruthi's anticipatory bail petition after finding out that she was pressed a rape case against a gym trainer in Mangaluru by posing as a technical assistant of Isro.
Sruthi's lawyer Shajjid Kammadam said the arrest violated several directions of the Supreme Court. The investigating officer did not serve a notice to her under Section 41A of CrpC if a reasonable complaint is made, he said.
Also, under Section 41 of CrPC, the Supreme Court has observed that even for cognizable offences, an arrest is not mandatory if the punishment does not exceed seven years.
And if she is arrested, the investigating officer should give her in writing the grounds for the arrest, said Adv Kammadam.
