<![CDATA[Kochi: In a case involving the cheating of many widows by promising to marry them a 38 year old youth was arrested by the Kochi City police on Tuesday. The Police identified the arrested accused as Biju Antony aged 38, a native of Payyannur currently residing in Mananthavadi. He was arrested by the Ernakulam North police in connection with a case of cheating a woman from Malappuram. As per the case, Biju Antony established a relationship with the complainant a month ago and began staying with her at a rented house near Vaduthala. He then looted and escaped with her gold ornaments and cash about a week later. According to the police, his strategy was to marry young widows by advertising himself as a prospective groom in matrimonial classifieds. A police officer said that he would spend a few weeks with the victim and leave them behind after obtaining their gold and cash. The accused upon establishing a relationship with a woman, would take a mobile phone connection in her name and use the number to entrap the next woman. The officer added saying that for instance, he had already swindled Rs.45,000 from a physically disabled woman from Kottayam and established links with another woman in Vaikom even while staying with a woman at Vaduthala. He was identified by each of the women in different names. The accused, who had been hiding out at Gundalpettu in Karnataka and later in Wayanad, was traced with the help of the Kalpetta police. Interestingly, the accused had published a matrimonial advertisement in vernacular newspapers a day before being arrested and was receiving several inquiries over the phone even while in custody. According to the police, several cases of marriage fraud have been pending against him since 2008. The accused was produced before a magistrate and remanded in custody. The police will soon seek his custody for a detailed investigation.]]>
