In a rather embarrassing and sad incident, a daily labourer who attempted to get help for his differently abled daughter through a newspaper ad here was cheated of more than Rs. 8000 by an imposter.

R Nagaraj, father of P Rajakumari (9), a class 5 student, was deceived by an imposter of the name of Pravin, who claimed to be from a trust run by actor Raghava Lawrence. Nagaraj further handed over his address and identity proofs to receive the promised money.

According to Nagaraj, a resident of Muthukoundanpudhur, he was trying to get financial support for his daughter’s brainstem implant surgery in various places. A daily labourer and father of three, he could not financially support Rajakumari, who was born deaf and mute.

On 25 October, 2016, Nagaraj posted an advertisement in a Tamil daily seeking financial help for the operation, the cost of which is Rs. 15 lakhs.

“A day after the advertisement was published I received a call from Pravin claiming that he would help me through the Raghava Lawrence Trust. He further claimed that movie director Bala and an Iyyappan temple trust from Coimbatore were also willing to help towards my daughter’s surgery,” Nagaraj said.

The imposter assured Nagaraj that he would get a total of Rs. 7 lakhs with Raghava Lawrence and Bala offering Rs. 3 lakh each and the Iyyappan temple trust offering Rs. 1 lakh.

The imposter then asked Nagaraj to deposit a sum of Rs. 8500 to an account, which is not active now, which Nagaraj di by depositing Rs. 3500 twice and an additional Rs. 2500.

Much to his shock, when he tried reaching Pravin’s number again it was not reachable and bank officials said that the account had been closed.

“I tried filing a complaint with the Sulur Police, but they refused to take it as there was no substantial evidence,” he alleged, adding that he would petition the office of the Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore District on Wednesday.

When contacted, personnel from the Raghava Lawrence Trust distanced themselves from the incident. A senior official from the Cyber Cell said action would be taken based on the complaint, adding that people should be careful of such hoax calls.