More Australian visa fraud cases tumble out

KOCHI

:

Complaints

have been piling up at North Police station since Friday after four people were arrested in connection with a visa

scam

case.

Officers said that they have received 40 complaints so far and

cases

have been registered in this regard. Victims have also approached other stations in the state with similar complaints. The arrested Arun Das (28) of Thathamangalam, Kozhikode; Chitra C Nair (26) of Mankara, Palakkad; Sasthakumar (46) of Coimbatore; and Vishnu (24) of Mattanoor in Kannur are now in remand and are trying for bail, police said.

The accused duped job aspirants of more than Rs 10 crore by offering jobs in Australia. Police said that the accused used to run placement service centres at Kaloor, Bengaluru and Coimbatore.

“We have booked multiple cases in connection with the scam,” said North station SI V B Anas.

The accused were held based on a probe conducted by North police into the complaint filed by Palluruthy native Abin Abraham and Pattimattom resident Minjin John.

The accused had duped Rs 13 lakh from the duo and four others. The job aspirants told police that they didn’t get the visa or the money back even months after paying the amount.