BENGALURU: Conman L Somanna, who had earlier posed himself as the BJP MLC Somanna and was arrested by the Basaveshwaranagar police, escaped from their custody during a property recovery in Chitradurga. The accused, Somanna, had deceived several people by introducing himself as MLC Somanna. According to police, the conman used to take samples from several jewellery shops but never returned them.
Besides duping jewellers, Somanna also took money from people after promising them government jobs, loan from banks and sites at cheaper rates. Recently he was arrested after Dheeraj D.N., an owner of a jewelry shop, had filed a cheating complaint with the police.
The accused had escaped with the gold jewellery worth '94 lakh under the pretext of donating the same to 51 couples at a mass marriage in Mysuru. The police said that Somanna was taken to Chitradurga to recover gold he had pledged with pawn brokers there.
As he was taken to a jewelry shop in Chitradurga on Thursday afternoon, he requested the police to attend nature’s call. The police let him go with his hands cuffs on,
But when he did not return from the washroom, even after 10 minutes, the police carried out search and realized that he had escaped. Basaveshwaranagar police, who had taken him in custody, were supposed to produced him before the court on Friday.
The police have filed a missing complaint with the local police where the incident took place. The Basaveshwaranagar police along with Chitradurga police have launched a manhunt.
