O R D E R

This application is filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking pre-

arrest bail.

2. The applicants are the accused Nos.1 and 2 in Crime No.1326/2025 of Cantonment Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram District. The offence alleged is punishable under Section 318 (4)

read with Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. 3. The prosecution case, in short, is that in furtherance of the conspiracy hatched among the applicants and accused No. 3 with the dishonest intention to cheat the de facto complainant, they induced her to believe that there existed a scheme whereby an amount of ₹20,00,000/- would be returned upon payment of an initial amount of Rs.10,00,000/-. Accordingly, on 08.10.2025 at 1:00 p.m., the defacto complainant paid Rs.10,00,000/- to the accused No.3 inside the side gate of Kerala University for which the accused No.3 had issued some lottery tickets. However, the accused misappropriated the amount and failed to return it despite repeated demands, thereby committed the offence of cheating.

4. I have heard Sri.Alexander George, the learned counsel for the applicants and Smt.Sreeja V., the learned Se