Seven nabbed in ‘rice puller’ fraud

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: City police have nabbed seven more people in connection with yet another case of ‘Rice Puller’ fraud. The gang has been operating across Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, police said.

 Biju Surendran, 46, of Mulavana, Kollam, the brain behind the operation; his wife Priyanka alias Asitha, 30; Jafar alias Rahim, 42 of Mangode; Sanu Wilfred, 28, of Ernakulam North; Omar Shereef, 42, of Oachira; Ajikumar alias Thoongampara Aji, 43, of Kattakkada; and Jerin Jose, 24, of Bangalore, are the arrested. They were arrested while plotting another fraud, police said. 

 The gang had cheated numerous people claiming that they had for sale an ancient ‘rice puller’ or gold pot, which could attract rice grains that could fetch them crores in the international market. Biju used to net victims saying he was a managing partner with an MNC. He also flaunted fake ID cards to trap his victims.

 Biju introduced himself to his victims under a variety of aliases; Vincent Samuel, Sooraj Varma, Ramesh Dhamani, Albert Morris, Arun Patel and Santhosh Goswami. In fact, when the police nabbed him from a secret location, he was dressed like a business executive and arrived in a luxury car. City police also confiscated phosphorous, potassium permanganate, aluminium powder and other chemicals from the gang. These were used for some simple magic tricks to convince the victims further about the ‘Rice Puller.’

 Last month, the city police had nabbed ten members of the same gang. Although the seven fraudsters arrested on Sunday had lain low after the initial arrests, they had soon planned another crime. The seven were arrested on the orders of City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham.