B Purushothaman, the 57-year-old conman who allegedly duped as many as seven widows and fleeced them off crores of rupees was arrested by the police in Tiruchi on Sunday. Purushothaman had absconded as soon as Dhanalakshmi*, one of the women he had fleeced went to the police earlier this month over the Rs 3 crore she lost to him.

According to one report, Purushothaman, a resident of Vellalur was arrested in Trichy by the Coimbatore cops investigating the fraud. Two special teams had been formed to nab him. However, pointing out that Purushothaman was not cooperating with authorities, one investigating officer told TOI, "We interrogated Purushothaman after the arrest. He denied all the charges and said he did not have even a single penny in his bank accounts.”

Earlier, Inspector Mashu Begam of the Podanur station who is handling the investigation had told TNM that Purushothaman had conned women off Rs 4.5 crore. "What he did with Dhanalakshmi is his exact modus operandi every single time. He acts like a business tycoon, targets vulnerable women looking for a second marriage and leaves them once he loots crores of rupees from them," she says.

The police had also book a case against Mohan and Vanajakumari, the couple that ran the matrimonial website through which Purushothaman met his matches. Inspector Mashu Begam said, “The website owners seem to be in cahoots with Purushothaman and it is somehow rigged to make profiles match to his. We are still investigating this. Once he is caught, we will focus on the matrimonial site”

The police are also investigating the death of his first wife. They also questioned his 18-year-old daughter Saritha who is an engineering student over her involvement in the affair.