Charity, spirituality and promises: Kerala police arrest 3, suspect Iridium scam worth Rs 500 Cr

Thrissur (Kerala): Police have arrested three people in connection with a major iridium scam centred around Irinjalakuda region of the district. The accused—Haridasan (52), also known as Hariswami from Perinjanam, Jisha (45) from Thanissery and Preeda Suresh (46) from Madayikonam—were nabbed for cheating several people by promising big returns through fake iridium deals.

The arrests were made by the Irinjalakuda Police team led by Inspector M S Shajan, Sub-Inspectors Mohammad Rashi and ASI Umesh. The investigation is ongoing, and police believe more people may have been cheated by the group.

The case began with a complaint from a man in Mapranam who said he gave Rs 31,000 to the accused between August 2018 and January 2019. He was promised lakhs in return through iridium trade. As per a secret police report, the group is involved in similar frauds worth nearly Rs 500 crore.

Haridasan's pursuits
The key accused, Haridasan, pretended to be a spiritual leader and claimed he would soon head a centre in Kolkata. He said he was planning to start a trust to help the poor and asked people to donate, promising them large returns once the iridium was sold abroad.

To win people’s trust, he told them he owned farms and shops under a business called “Haritham Group”, which he said funded his charity work. He also showed fake documents said to be from the Reserve Bank of India and displayed photos of himself with film stars and politicians.

He gave small amounts of money during local festivals and used the money collected through fraud to build 13 houses in his area. He told people this was part of his charitable work. However, anyone who asked for their money back was threatened. Haridasan claimed he had divine powers and warned that those who questioned him or withdrew their investment could face serious misfortune. He also told them that taking the money back would harm the country’s financial security.

People who gave him money were not given his phone number. He told them he did not use a mobile phone. But police later found that Haridasan had 13 SIM cards in his name. All the money was collected at his home in Perinjanam.

When victims started asking for returns, he kept delaying and gave false promises. But no one received the money he had promised.

What is the iridium or rice-puller scam?
The scam involves fake devices made from copper and iridium, which scammers claim have special powers like attracting rice or bringing good luck. Some also falsely say that these metals are used by NASA and are worth huge amounts of money.

People are fooled into investing large sums, believing they will get big profits. Since many victims are unaware of the truth, they fall for these lies and end up losing their savings.