Mangalore: Man cheats widows through matrimonial ads, caught
Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (BG)
Mangalore, Aug 17: Mangalore rural police have arrested a man for allegedly looting gold from women after luring them through matrimonial advertisements in newspapers.
The accused is Nagaraj Shetty alias Rajanna (40), who hails from Gauribidanur in Kolar district, but is settled in Shira, Tumkur. He has a young daughter.
After the death of his wife a few years ago, Nagaraj began posting ads in newspapers stating that he was looking for a widow to remarry.
Whenever a woman responded to his ad, he would get to know her, win her confidence and 'fix' marriage with her. He would then ask the woman to come to the temple with her gold ornaments to solemnize their wedding. On the appointed date and time, the woman would come, and seizing his opportunity, he would loot her gold and escape.
The last time he tricked a woman in this way was in Hubli one-and-a-half years back.
However, this time when he attempted the same trick again in Mangalore, he was caught after his victim complained.
It is said that Rajanna got in touch with a widow in Mangalore through a matrimonial ad in a newspaper, and promised to marry her. He told her to come with her gold for the wedding, which was to be solemnized on Thursday August 15.
The woman did as told and came with 400 grams of gold ornaments, worth around Rs 11 lac, all placed in a bag. Rajanna took her around to various temples, and stopped at Adyar Dhoomavati Temple where he was to 'marry' her. He told her to enter the temple first and said that he would follow her.
While the unsuspecting woman entered the temple, Rajanna took the bag containing gold and escaped. The woman, on realizing that she had been cheated, filed a complaint with Mangalore rural police the next day.
The police led by inspector Ravish Naik hunted down Rajanna and caught him within 24 hours. Gold worth Rs 11 lac belonging to the woman was recovered from him.
Further investigations are on. It is learnt that Rajanna had planned to cheat women in a similar way in Mysore and other places also.