Bengaluru: The East division police who are investigating the cases registered against former BBMP corporator and rowdy sheeter V. Nagaraj are reportedly interrogating him and his two sons separately.
Sources said that Nagaraj and his sons, Gandhi and Shastri, were being grilled separately to know whether they give similar statements or not. “It’s a common procedure whenever there are multiple accused in a case. We are questioning them about the primary case in which builder Umesh was allegedly kidnapped and extorted of Rs 50 lakh,” an official said.
It is said that Rs 14.8 crore of demonetised currency that was seized from Nagaraj’s house in Srirampura on April 14 belonged to the complainant Umesh.
“Umesh is a builder who has completed many projects. He had suffered huge losses in business and approached his friends seeking financial help. He had borrowed Rs 19 crore from his 4-5 friends. As the currency was demonetised, he had approached Nagaraj to convert it to white. Nagaraj took advantage of the situation and extorted Rs14.8 crore from Umesh by threatening him,” an official said.
However, as the amount was huge and Umesh could no way produce suitable documents for the money, hence he had mentioned just Rs 50 lakh in the complaint.
“The complainant was worried about the consequences if the IT department initiates action and thus he mentioned that only Rs 50 lakh was extorted from him. All this facts are being verified and Nagaraj is being thoroughly grilled about theses versions,” the official added.
Meanwhile, police sources said that teams were looking out for Nagaraj’s relative, Baiyappa, who is absconding. “Baiyappa is the one who had helped Nagaraj by providing him shelter,” a source said.
