Bengaluru: A 30-year-old conman who posed as an MLC and an MLA ticket aspirant from Mysuru was arrested for duping a cloth merchant of 2.5 kg of gold worth Rs. 94 lakh.
The police have identified the arrested man as L. Somanna, 39, a resident of Sahakar Nagar. The police have also arrested his associate Anthony, 28.
A known offender, Somanna has cases against him in Kodigehalli and Vyalikawal police stations in Bengaluru and in Nazarabad police station in Mysuru.
A cloth merchant, Suraj, had, in February, lodged a complaint against Somanna. Police arrested Somanna on Sunday using the Call Detail Records (CDR).
Suraj had alleged in the complaint that he first came in contact with Somanna and his associates in July last year, when people claiming to be family members of an MLC bought clothes from his shop.
“I was in constant touch with Somanna and his associates since then. I even went for Somanna’s birthday celebration in Chitradurga. An associate, who introduced himself as Renukesh, lured me with the offer of a loan of Rs. 3.5 crore from a trust run by Somanna, to open a new showroom. A few days later, Renukesh called and said Somanna was organising a mass marriage and asked me to buy 187 gold mangalsutras, and 45 gold biscuits for the programme. He said the money would be paid later,” Suraj stated in the complaint.
Hours after Suraj delivered 2.5 kg of gold to Renukesh, Somanna and all his associates became inaccessible.
