Man poses as groom on matrimony site, cheats woman of Rs 7.5

A 43-year-old married man was arrested today for allegedly cheating a city-based woman of Rs 7.5 lakh under the pretext of marrying her by posing as a groom and resident of UK. The accused, identified as Sasidharan Kattiri, a native of Kerala's Palakkad district, is working as an administration officer in an infra firm at Bengaluru, police said, adding that he had registered his marriage profile on a matrimonial website. The victim, a resident of Madhapur area here, had also uploaded her profile on the matrimonial website after which the accused sent request to marry her. "She accepted his request and communication started between them and finally marriage got fixed," stated a release from Cyberabad Police. Kattiri then asked money from the woman in the name of marriage and for obtaining visa to UK. "As he portrayed himself that he is a permanent resident of UK, the woman in good faith transferred Rs 7.5 lakh to his bank account. Apart from this amount, Kattiri has taken a gold ring, a gold chain along with a golden pendent and a mobile phone worth Rs 32,000 in the name of marriage rituals," police said. After taking all these goods, they were supposed to get married in the presence of the woman's family and relatives. "However, the accused went absconding. Though, she tried to contact him several times but he changed his mobile number too. She came to know that Kattiri is already married with two children and lodged a complaint," police said. Cyberabad Police registered a case and during the course of investigation apprehended the accused and found that he also had a dowry harassment case lodged against him by his wife. Kattiri has allegedly been involved in similar cases in Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan, police said. He was produced before a court at Kukatpally for judicial remand.