Chennai airport ‘brick in bag’ fiasco: Man held for cheating Sri Lankan

TAMBARAM: Chennai Airport police have arrested a 38-year-old trader based out of Mannady in Chennai on charges of cheating a Sri Lankan businessman by giving him a box containing a brick after receiving Rs.15,000 for delivering a laptop computer.

Chennai Suburban Police sources said Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Rafi and Mohammed Fawsi were Sri Lankan businessmen based in Colombo. They visited Chennai often to trade in textiles and footwear. They had come to the city on Thursday and were scheduled to return late on Friday when they came into contact with Mohammed Shabbir, a trader in Mannady.

Shabbir, police said, had told Hassan that he could supply low-cost laptop computers that could fetch a high price back in Sri Lanka. Police said Shabbir had collected Rs.15,000 from Hassan after promising him that the equipment would fetch him Rs.65,000. On his arrival at the International Terminal of Chennai Airport, Mohammed Hassan´s baggage was screened and a suspicious object was noticed.

On checking, it was revealed that a single brick was concealed in a computer bag. Police told The Hindu that Hassan was unaware that he was carrying brick, which he had assumed was the laptop computer given by Shabbir. Interrogations over the past couple of days established that the Sri Lankan businessman was cheated by the Mannady trader.

A team was formed to trace Shabbir, who was arrested late on Saturday night.

Further investigations were on police said, adding that the three Sri Lankan businessmen were not guilty on any count and that they were free to return home.

Police said Shabbir hailed from Ramanathapuram district. A school dropout, he was in Sri Lanka for several years, before shifting base to Mannady in Chennai, police said, adding that he was proficient in more than a dozen languages. – (The Hindu)