Mysuru: Criminals seem to take full advantage of various government schemes that provide financial aid to the poor and are taking the hapless and the gullible for a ride. They take advantage of elderly citizens and with their smooth talk the victims are made to part with their gold and valuables.

In separate cases, two women in city were robbed on the pretext of providing them the benefits of government loan schemes and in both the cases, criminals targeted elderly women who were waiting for bus at KSRTC City Bus Stand.

The first incident occurred on Wednesday (Dec. 5) where 70-year-old Kamala Bai, a resident of K.R. Mohalla was conned when she was waiting for a bus at around 2.30 pm. A stranger struck a conversation with her and befriended her. The conman told her that Rs.10,000 loan was being distributed to senior citizens like her under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

The conman told her that he would get her the money and an unsuspecting Kamala Bai instantly believed the criminal and fell for his smooth talk. During the course of his conversation, the man asked her to follow him up to Town Hall where he would give more information about the loan scheme.

Kamala Bai obliged him and followed him to the Town Hall. After taking her to the Town Hall, the conman asked her to remove a pair of earrings she was wearing and keep the same in her purse. He told her that if she was found wearing the ear rings, the chance of her securing the loan was less.

Trusting him, Kamala Bai kept her ear rings inside the purse that also had Rs. 4,000 in cash. Even as Kamala Bai was keeping the valuables in the purse, the stranger insisted on keeping the same all by himself. When she resisted, he snatched the purse and ran away.

A shocked Kamala Bai took some time to realise that she was conned. Later she approached the Devaraja Police Station along with her grandson Mohankumar and lodged a complaint. Devaraja Inspector Prasanna Kumar has registered a complaint and conducted a spot mahazar. The Police have collected visuals from CCTV cameras installed at the Bus Stand and the Town Hall.

In the second incident that occurred on Dec.4, Javaramma, a senior citizen, who was waiting for a bus at the City Bus Stand to go to her daughter’s house, was conned and here too, a similar modus operandi was used.

Javaramma was taken near Government Cheluvamba Hospital from the Bus Stand after the stranger promised to get her a loan of Rs.10,000 from the CM’s Relief Fund. The stranger who had accompanied her asked her to remove the gold bangles weighing 50 grams and keep the same in her purse. The woman had Rs. 5,000 cash on her.

The conman told her that if she was seen with the cash and gold, the loan amount would not be sanctioned. He later asked her to keep the bag in a tender coconut shop and wait near the emergency section at the        Cheluvamba Hospital.

The stranger, who went aside, did not return even after a long time. Suspecting something fishy, Javaramma came near the tender coconut vendor to ask for her bag, only to be told that the stranger had already taken away the bag. The coconut vendor even told her that he did not know the person who had kept the bag in his shop.

Devaraja Police have registered a case. The Police suspect that both the crimes were committed by a same person. CCTV footages are being examined by the Police to trace the criminal.