Mahabubnagar man held for cheating, harassing women by posing as celebrities

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda cyber crimes police on Tuesday arrested a man for duping people on the pretext of providing jobs. He also harassed women by uploading their morphed photos on social media.Two cases have been registered against the 28-year-old Peetla Santosh of Mahabubnagar.

According to the police, Santosh posed as a TV serial actor and befriended women on social media. He promised them opportunities in TV serials and also government jobs. Once the victims fell into his trap, he collected huge amounts from them.

Earlier, he had been arrested for similar offences and several cases were registered against him by the police of Mahbubnagar II town, Sulthan Bazar, and Inthezar Gunj, Warangal. He had been released in these cases and gone back to committing the same crimes.

He had befriended a woman on Instagram and later started chatting with her on WhatsApp. He told her he would get her a government job and asked her to pay Rs. 50,000. When she refused he professed his love for her but she again refused. Then Santosh morphed her photos and uploaded them on Instagram by creating a fake account. He also uploaded them on YouTube.

In another case, Santosh, posing as a celebrity, contacted the victim through WhatsApp. He promised her a job in the Railways and collected Rs. 3,03,000 from her. After that, he stopped responding to her phone calls and messages.

The police arrested Santosh on 5 July and produced him before the court for judicial custody.