Bangalore:
A 42-year-old dismissed postmaster, who cheated around 20 women with the promise of marriage and then made away with their valuables, was lured into the police net in Karwar by none other than one of his victims.
Siddalinga Prasad, a native of Tumkur, placed advertisements in the matrimonial section of various newspapers seeking a bride. His ruse succeeded and calls began flooding in because he added points like dowry not required and caste and age no bar.
After meeting his victims, he nurtured relationships and fooled them into lending him money, jewellery or into buying him expensive gifts, after which he vanished from the scene and changed his mobile number.
His victims hail from various parts of the state and he used to target them using several aliases and always with a different SIM card.
His luck finally ran out when he made the mistake of calling one of his earlier victims seeking financial help. After consulting the police, the widow claiming to have already lost Rs 42,000 to the con artist, agreed to help him.
Based on her complaint however, the Upparpet police swung into action and laid a trap for the charming crook, but every time he managed to give them the slip.
Prasad was not willing to meet the victim to collect the money and instead asked her to courier the amount to him in Karwar. Alerted by the woman, a police team rushed to Karwar and kept a watch on the courier agency. After a while they were able to arrest Prasad when he came to pick up the parcel.
Upparpet police inspector Lokeshwar said, "His initial plan succeeded and proposals began flooding in from different parts of the state, including employees of private firms, lab technicians, school teachers and even a lecturer landed in his trap. We failed on several occasions to track him down through his mobile phone as he changed SIM cards twice a day."
During interrogation, Prasad confessed to cheating around 20 women. Lokeshwar said so far only six cases have been booked against the conman, as other victims refused to come forward.
The police recovered 34 grams of gold from the accused along with Rs 40,000 in cash. Deputy Commissioner of Police S N Siddaramappa said, "Prasad was booked for similar cases in Bangalore and Udupi earlier, which are pending against him."
Prasad worked for the postal services and lived with his wife, who is a nurse, and parents who are both primary school teachers.
A chronic alcoholic, Prasad was arrested two years ago for misappropriating a money order running into several thousand rupees. He used a part of the money to construct a house in his native place. He was sacked from his postal services job immediately after being arrested and jailed.
After securing bail, he decided upon a plan to make a quick buck and placed advertisements in the matrimonial section of various newspapers seeking a bride.
Under different false names and credentials, including that of an Engineer from BIAL or a senior officer from the agriculture department, he developed relationships with many women and vanished with gold valuables and cash and changed his numbers regularly.
After waiting for several months, many victims stopped entertaining him, and those who wanted to complain to the police, did not as they were too embarrassed to do so.