The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : 2 held, three plasma TVs recovered

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Sunday, Jun 01, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

2 held, three plasma TVs recovered

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: A person, who used to trick shop owners to part with costly TV sets with his talkativeness and by issuing counterfeit cheques, was arrested by city police on Saturday.

Along with the alleged trickster Abdul Waseem, 35, his associate M. Vamshee Reddy was also taken into custody. The Commissioner’s Task Force DCP V.B. Kamalasan Reddy told reporters that Reddy was arrested recently on charge of approaching slain gangster Azeez Reddy to settle a monetary dispute on behalf of his friend.

Waseem was also arrested eight times in the past on cheating charges. “Being familiar with photo-shopping software, Waseem used to prepare fake demand drafts and cheques by scanning,” the DCP explained. Using his communication skills, he would impress upon the shop owners that he was a top executive, present the fabricated cheques or DDs, collect costly TV sets and disappear.

In the latest case, he rang up Tirumala Music Centre’s Begumpet shop claiming that he was a business executive and wanted to buy a plasma TV.

When the staff of the shop later called him up believing him to be a prospective customer, he deliberately avoided the calls. “Pretending to be yielding to their pressure, he accepted to buy the plasma TV and asked them to deliver it at a flat at Vithalwadi assuring to pay the money on delivery,” the DCP explained.

According to police, a person known to Waseem used to live in that flat but later vacated it. Waseem approached the apartment building watchman claiming that he was a friend of the former occupant of the flat and requested him to collect the TV on his behalf.

When the shop employee went to the flat and rang him up for money, he asked the delivery boy to come to RTC crossroads falsely claiming that he was stuck up in traffic jam. In fact, police said, he was allegedly waiting near the flat then. He collected the TV from the watchman as soon as the delivery boy left the place and fled.

On a tip-off, the Task Force officials picked up him first. Based on his confession that he had sold the Rs. 1.27 lakh worth TV to Reddy for Rs. 39,000, they arrested the latter also.

Three TVs allegedly sold by Waseem to him were recovered.

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