Kasaragod: Melparamba police on Friday arrested Sruthi Chandrashekaran (32) on charges of defrauding male police officers, bankers, and gym trainers of lakhs of rupees. A team led by Melparamba Station House Officer – Inspector K Santhosh Kumar arrested Sruthi from a lodge in Udupi, Karnataka. She is accused of posing as an ISRO employee, Income Tax sub-inspector, civil service aspirant, or bank employee to deceive her victims by promising marriage.
Police reported that Sruthi would often press rape charges against her victims if they demanded their money back. The arrest followed a complaint by Akhilesh P M, a native of Poinachi, who met Sruthi on Instagram. He accused her of taking Rs 1 lakh in small amounts and a gold chain weighing 8 grams, claiming her mother-in-law had cancer. When Akhilesh realized he was being deceived and demanded his money back, Sruthi allegedly threatened to accuse him of sexual assault.
Based on his complaint, Melparamba Police booked Sruthi under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating using fake documents), and 405 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. If convicted, she could face up to seven years in prison.
On July 11, Kasaragod Sessions Judge Sanu S Panicker rejected Sruthi’s anticipatory bail petition after learning that she had previously filed a false rape case against a gym trainer in Mangaluru by posing as a technical assistant at ISRO. Sruthi’s lawyer, Shajjid Kammadam, argued that the arrest violated several Supreme Court directives, noting that the investigating officer did not serve a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC, and that an arrest is not mandatory for offences with punishments not exceeding seven years.