A 42-year-old man from Gurugram has been arrested for allegedly defrauding people out of several crores of rupees on the promise of student education visas to European countries. A native of Neyyattinkara, Kerala, Elisa Thankarajan (alias) TS Roger had recently changed his name to Roger to escape the police and the several complaints lodged against him, reported The New Indian Express.
According to police, the suspect had promised the applicants the issuance of visas to Europe, online. His institution, named Alpha Mary International, was functioning at Thampanoor and Pattom in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The offices of these colleges have also been closed for a while, said the police. The students who had approached the accused for visas then approached the police with a complaint after these offices were found to be closed and 'Roger' was not reachable over the phone.
"Earlier, we received a complaint from this institution and the police sealed the office at Pattom in April. Since then, he has gone absconding. About 20 complaints were received at Peroorkada station alone and five cases were registered. Besides, there are many complaints registered at police stations in other districts as the applicants are from various places in the state. The suspect had collected documents from the applicants and asked them to deposit the money for the visa. He demanded a minimum of Rs 20 lakh from each applicant. His confidence was that his target was students. However, he landed in the police net through an operation through WhatsApp communication. When we reached there, we found that he was running a similar institution in Gurgaon and offering visas for students," said Azad Abdul Kalam, Peroorkada Inspector of Police. The police added that he was produced before the magistrate at Gurugram and he would be brought to Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, October 18, after securing a transit warrant.
