(Representative image)

COIMBATORE: Perhaps his truck transport business was not doing too well. So B Purushothaman of Vellalore in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu decided to make marrying an enterprise. And to his amazement, it not only clicked but came with many perks as well; eight years and as many wives later, he found himself richer by a cool Rs 4.5 crore. But then his luck apparently ran out.

Indira Gandhi, 45, a college lecturer from Chennai, was swept off her feet by her husband’s charms and love for days after she married Purushothaman, who is now 57. When he suggested that she sell her large house in Chennai so they could relocate to Coimbatore, Indira Gandhi was only too happy to oblige. But soon after the sale was done for Rs 1.5 crore, she received the shock of her life; the love of her life vanished with the entire money, leaving her husband-less, cash-less and homeless. And this was something Indira Gandhi was not willing to take lying down.

She approached police and investigations revealed that Purushothaman had cheated three other women in a similar manner before marrying her and married four more women after the Indira Gandhi episode.

The Coimbatore city police registered an FIR against Purushothaman on Saturday based on a complaint from three of his ‘wives’ who said they had become poorer by Rs 4.5 crore after Purushothaman walked into their lives.

At his charming best, Purushothaman had told another ‘wife’ Kumudavalli that a civil dispute was pending before a court and once the case was over, he would get Rs 17 crore. The love-struck woman had no reason to doubt him. So when he asked her to sell her farmland, she did so and handed over Rs 3 crore to him. That was the last she saw of him.

Purushothaman had picked his victims with the active connivance of a matrimonial agency in Coimbatore. Police suspect that a man and a woman who were running the centre had received money from Purushothaman for passing on information about the rich and gullible divorcees and widowed women looking for a second marriage. The duo, identified as Mohan and Vanaja Kumari, too were booked on various counts. Police plan to arrest them soon.

Police said Purushothaman owned a truck transport office at Gandhipuram. He lived in a house at Vellalore with his elderly mother and daughter Geethanjali, 18. His wife Usharani passed away a few years ago.

After befriending Mohan and Vanaja, Purushothaman carefully chose his victims and went on a marrying spree. He got hitched up with Sabitha, Usharani, Vimala, a school teacher, Indira Gandhi, Shanthini from Ramanathapuram in Coimbatore city, Chitra from Erode, Kumudavalli from Pappanaickenpalayam in Coimbatore and Suseela from Namakkal over eight years.

“Purushothaman had registered his some of the marriages. He selected women who were having a high profile. He has more than 18 cheating cases with the city crime branch police. We are trying to locate him,” said Masutha Begum, inspector of police, All Women Police Station (east).

