Conman impersonates Army major, dupes 17 woman of Rs 6.61 crore

A conman who impersonated as an Army Major to dupe 17 prospective brides to the tune of Rs 661 crore was running an organised racket by converting a rented room in Hyderabad as an Army officeIn addition to dressing as an Army officer he had decked up the room in such a manner that the brides and their family members never had any doubt about his credentials during video conferences he used to have with them from the officeAfter having a free run for six years during which he cheated 17 prospective brides he was finally caught on Saturday when he was trying to dupe another womanThe police investigations revealed that Srinivas Chowhan whose real name is Mudavath Srinu Naik had used the money to buy a duplex house in Hyderabad and three cars including a Mercedes BenzHailing from Prakasam districts Kilampalli village in Andhra Pradesh Srinivas had studied only up to ninth standard He made a fake certificate showing that he did M Tech in environmental engineering from a university in MeghalayaIn 2002 he married a woman who was working as superintendent in the office of district medical and health officer in Guntur They have a son and the family lives at Vinukonda in Guntur districtIn 2014 he came to Hyderabad and settled in Sainikpuri Jawaharnagar He informed his wife that he has got a job at an Army office He took Rs 67 lakh from his wife saying he required the money for some emergency worksHe obtained an Aadhar card in the name of MS Chauhan claiming to be an Army officer He opened social media accounts with his DP in photos taken in Army uniformPosing as a bachelor looking for a bride the accused started targeting families looking for Army personnel as bridegroom and contacted them through matrimony websites He used to send his biodata claiming to be a trainee from the National Defence Academy PuneThe investigations also revealed that he used to wear Army uniform while talking online to the prospective brides and their family members He used to impress them by saying he does not want any dowry After developing some relations with the families he started demanding money on the pretext of some urgent requirementHis victims include an official working in Telangana secretariat who was looking for a match for his daughter a medical student He took Rs 56 lakh from him The accused also duped another family of Warangal to the tune of Rs 2 croreHe told another prospective bride that he passed out from Gorakhpur IIT The girl inquired with the institute and found the claim to be false He however somehow managed to convince her and took Rs 76 lakh from herHe was finally caught on Saturday when he was going in a car to dupe another familyA case of cheating was registered at Jawaharnagar police station A case was also booked at the Subedari police station in Warangal districtPolice seized a dummy pistol with three pellets three pairs of Army dress Army cap Army badges fake Army ID card two photos taken in Army dress fake Masters Degree certificate CMJ University and other documentsPolice also recovered four cell phones one Mahindra Thar Jeep one Fortuner car and one Mercedes Benz car from himKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever