Pathanad: A man swindled a lottery ticket seller here in Pathanad on Saturday, making off with both tickets and cash.
According to cops, S Radhakrishnan Nair, a roadside lottery vendor at Pathanad Junction, was cheated of Rs 2,740 and 19 lottery tickets worth Rs 760. According to Nair, the man in his twenties approached him around 3.30 pm on Saturday and purchased 19 tickets. He offered to transfer money via mobile phone since he was not carrying cash.
The man then went to a bicycle shop on the pretext of buying a cycle for a five-year-old. He borrowed the mobile phone of the shopkeeper and texted a message to the lottery seller, saying Rs 3,500 had been sent to his bank account.
He returned to the lottery seller, asking to check the message. Nair was told that the money was sent from his home. After checking his phone, a convinced Nair gave the youth the tickets after deducting Rs 760 and returned the balance amount of Rs 2,740.
Later in the evening, Nair checked his account online and realised that the amount had not been credited to his account. He contacted the number from which the cash was sent and realised that he had been conned. The Karukachal police registered a case based on Nair's complaint. The CCTV camera at the cycle shop has captured the man's image.