Officials arrested a man for cheating 400 rice mill owners

The Central Zone Task Force arrested a man on charges of cheating 400 rice mill owners across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka by promising them discounts on machinery spare parts.According to the police, M Ram Krishna, a resident of Balanagar, is suspected to have collecting Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000 from each mill owner, police said. Krishna fraudulently took their phone numbers from the Rice Mill Association and contacted them posing as the owner of Ramakrishna Engineering Company. He promised to offer them spares on a discount as an introductory offer. 

After gaining their trust and taking orders over phone, Krishna asked them to transfer the deal amount to his account so that the material could be delivered to their addresses. Once he received the amount, he would switch off the phone and go incommunicado, police said, adding he used around 20 SIM cards.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that Krishna cheated about 400 rice mill owners across the three States to the tune of Rs 10 lakh in the last two years. Officials said so far seven cases were booked against him at several police stations in Telangana.