Kerala: Man dupes crores by selling rice puller, nabbed

Kochi: An MBA graduate from Andhra Pradesh was arrested by the Kalady Police on Sunday for allegedly duping several people into buying a metal device claimed to have “magical properties” including drawing rice grains and cheating them of crores of rupees. The accused was identified as Madanamoksha Raju (36), a resident of Sainik Puri Defence Colony, Neredmet, Andhra Pradesh. According to cops, the accused, who possessed excellent communication skills, used to lure victims into buying the ‘rice puller’ and help them sell it for exorbitant prices. He made them believe that the rice puller is an alloy of copper and iridium is used by foreign agencies like NASA in space satellites for generating energy. He promised that his own company ‘Maxi Solutions’ will help them sell the material in foreign countries. He used to travel in luxury cars and hold meetings in this regard in luxury hotels to trap gullible people,” police said. During probe, the cops found he had cheated several persons across the state of crores of rupees using the modus operandi. The accused, by forging a fake election identity card in the name of john Milton, had obtained a phone number in the same name to contact the targets. A probe was held based on complaints received by Aluva Superintendent A V George in which the cops got information about persons who helped in carrying out the fraud both in the state and outside,” they said. A case has been registered against the accused under IPC 420 for cheating and he was remanded in judicial custody.