Kochi: A lottery saleswoman was arrested for allegedly embezzling lakhs of rupees by pretending to be a marriage broker and collecting information from young men to cheat them. Shaila (57) was arrested by the Koothattukulam police from her home.

She used to extort money after establishing relationships with prospective grooms by pretending to be the young girl interested in the alliance. According to the police, Shaila extorted more than Rs 25 lakh from young men in the Koothattukulam, Chorakuzhi, and Peruva area. 

As a lottery seller, Shaila would go from house to house and collect information about men of marriageable age. She would then pass along pictures of beautiful women whom she claimed had good jobs to the men.

Shaila would then give her own phone number purporting them to belong to the girl or her parents. Police say that the woman was in possession of three phones and several SIM cards. She would distort her voice to either sound like a young girl or her mother. After establishing closeness, she would trick the men into paying money by citing an emergency.

A man from Chorakuzhi was defrauded in this manner by Shaila. She gave the man the picture of a young woman called Sona who she said works in InfoPark. Shaila gave her number to him and pretended as Sona. After a few conversations and establishing trust, she demanded Rs 6 lakh from the man saying her parents were unwell. The person had some suspicions and contacted the police. That's how her deceitful pursuit came to light.

Similar cases were found after this man filed a complaint and an investigation was launched.