Kottayam: Telangana Police have requested the custody of an interstate conman -- Chandrasery Saleesh Kumar (47) of Varantharapally, Thrissur -- who was recently nabbed for defrauding a woman of Rs 1.86 crore in Kanjirapally.

According to police sources, the accused contacted the woman from Kanjirapally, claiming to be calling from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He informed her that a court had issued an arrest warrant against her due to a money laundering case linked to her bank account in Mumbai. He then demanded money from her. Intimidated by the call, the housewife transferred Rs 1,86,62,000 into the accused’s account over several transactions.

Subsequently, the housewife filed a complaint with the Kanjirapally police. During their investigation, they found that the money had been deposited into Saleesh Kumar’s account. The accused was apprehended while in Goa.

The case was transferred to the district crime branch, where it was discovered that Saleesh Kumar had moved the stolen funds to accounts in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Further investigation revealed that the accused had committed similar fraudulent activities across several states.

The inquiry also uncovered that there were financial fraud cases against him in Varantharapally and Koratty police stations in Thrissur, as well as in states including Goa, Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. The police in the respective states were informed of his arrest.

Following this, the Telangana police arrived in Kanjirapally and requested the remand of the accused at the Judicial First Class Magistrate 1 Court in Ponkunnam. The court will consider their request on Monday. The accused is currently in remand at the Ponkunnam sub-jail.