Techie couple honey-trap IAS aspirant, arrested

Chennai: A jobless software professional couple went on a honey trap spree targeting men looking to date with women from porn sites. Their latest victim, Jagadeeshwaran, an IAS aspirant who is a resident of Indira Nagar, had approached the cops after 65 sovereign jewellery kept in his residence went missing after the couple, who visited his house in May, had left suddenly on the woman complaining of being acutely ill. Jagadeeshwaran family had been away when the couple visited him.

The couple, Venkatraman and Sinduja, were married few months ago after they got to know each other when working in an IT firm in Hyderabad. They moved to Chennai and settled in Red Hills. Since they could not land any proper jobs, they hit upon a con act, which paid them dividends on many occasions. "Venkatraman would post his willingness to offer a date with his wife and netizens would contact him. They would fix up the date with the victim at his place where the couple would ensure the victim was kept in a good mood with sensuous conversations.

As this was taking place, Venkatraman would scout for valuables around the house. When the victim tried to  get too friendly, Sindhuja would swoon forcing their target to think something had gone wrong. Meanwhile, Venkatraman would step in and say that he would have her checked in a hospital and decamp with the valuables in the guise of rushing out with her," a senior police official said.

A team led by Adyar ACP Asokan and Inspector Sivakumar set a trap by showing interest in Venkatraman's post. They lured the couple out and nabbed Venkatraman while Sindhuja managed to sneak away. A raid at their residence helped recover 45 sovereigns of gold jewellery.