Bengaluru: Posing as Director General of Central Board of Revenue and the Head of the Economic Intelligence Wing at the Ministry of Finance, New Delhi, a Bengalurean cheated a Kerala-based cable network owner of Rs 24.5 lakh over a period of time.
A complaint of impersonation and cheating has been registered against a Jalahalli resident, identified as Dr K.P. Krishna Bethuram Gopi, at the Gangammangudi police station by the Alappuzha-based victim, Hari Kumar.
In his complaint Hari Kumar has alleged that Gopi is his distant relative and got introduced to him at a relative’s funeral in a village in Kerala in December 2013. Gopi told Hari that he was the Director General of Central Board of Revenue, and the latter believed him, because he happened to be his distant relative.
Hari got further impressed when he saw Gopi’s visiting cards, his car and the board displaying his designation on it. Later he also saw that at Gopi’s house in Jalahalli, Bengaluru, there was a board stating ‘Director General, Economic Intelligence Wing.’
Hari wanted to expand his cable network business in Bengaluru and got in touch with Gopi in December 2013 to buy a plot somewhere on Old Airport Road. Hari’s troubles began when Gopi assured him that he could help him in getting a plot of land allotted to him. Gopi then demanded money from Hari, who paid up Rs 40 lakh in total, through three bank transactions and three hard-cash handovers. The bank transactions amounted to Rs 17 lakh, while hard-cash handovers amounted to Rs 23 lakh, Hari said.
Months passed, but there was no sign of the plot. Whenever Kumar enquired about the land, Gopi would come up with some excuse. Suspecting something amiss, Hari set out to New Delhi in the month of April this year to check on Gopi’s credentials. With his available Malayalee contacts in the Central Ministry, he was shocked to hear that there was no such office or such a person by that name.
“I took the next flight to Bengaluru from Delhi and reached his house and confronted him. I had also taken along the person from whom I had borrowed money,” Hari told Deccan Chronicle. After heated arguments, Gopi finally transferred nearly Rs 15.5 lakh to Hari’s account and promised to send the rest of money shortly.
After that incident, Hari has been unable to locate Gopi whenever he came to Bengaluru. “I have come to Bengaluru over 85 times and I have a total debt of about Rs 40 lakh. Gopi is neither reachable on phone nor was he available at his house,” said Hari. He then lodged a complaint at the Gangammangudi police station in North Division.
