Bengaluru, Jul 12 (DHNS): This is one con story where a woman was not only cheated of her money, but her trust in him too was betrayed.
The Seshadripuram police have arrested lacsman Pujari alias Prashanth Pujari, a native of Mangaluru and a resident of Cholanagar in Hebbal, who extracted Rs 40 lac from the victim on the mere promise of marrying her.
To add insult to injury, the woman, it has come to light, was raped by Pujari several times.
Police said the suspect owned a mobile phone and laptop repair shop. He was arrested based on a complaint filed by the victim.
The complaint stated that Pujari approached her through Marry Forever, a matrimonial website.
He claimed in the website that he was working as an engineer in Dell and was residing in an apartment in RT Nagar. He said he had divorced his wife and was staying alone.
Pujari also claimed through the website that he owned properties worth crores of rupees back home in Mangaluru.
Conman’s claims
Falling for the conman’s tall claims, she developed a friendship, chatting with him on the phone frequently, police said.
A senior police officer said, “In September 2011, he took the woman to his friend’s house in Palace Guttahalli, promised to marry her and raped her several times. He then told her that he needs to get a surgery done as he was suffering from heart ailments and sought money from her. The victim gave him Rs 40 lac as loan. Pujari took the money and was incommunicado thereafter.”
The victim tried to trace him, but in vain. Based on the call records, Pujari was arrested from his residence in Cholanagar. He was already married and had a 14-year-old son, police said.
During interrogation, he said he had cheated several women in a similar fashion. The police are trying to trace the victims to gather more information.