"The accused identified as Rajapathi (31) was apprehended from Bowenpally area of the city and Rs 4,75,000 cash and gold ornaments weighing approximately 18.5 tolas which he had pledged to a gold financing firm were recovered," ADG (CID) S V Ramana Murthy said.
Rajapathi, who is merely 3.5 feet tall, morphed his actual photograph with the image of a "handsome" youth to create the fake profile on a couple of social networking sites, he said.
Explaining the modus operandi, Murthy said Rajapathi "proposed" the girl to marry him to which she agreed. "Though he avoided meeting her in person, Rajapathi made her believe that his was the genuine proposal," he said, adding the accused asked the girl to fund his medical expenses claiming that he has some kidney ailment.
"The accused himself collected Rs 3 lakh in cash and 50 tolas of gold from the victim during January to October by posing himself as friend of Rajapathi," Murthy said, adding he would identify himself as Sreedhar while collecting the cash and would tell the victim that Rajapathi was in hospital.
However, sensing that something was amiss, the girl filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police station on October 17 following which the investigation was carried out.
Police said the accused told them during investigation that he had also trapped two girls using the similar modus operandi and confessed to the crime.