Working duo cheat petrol bunk owner of Rs 65.5 lakh

A manager and a woman cashier have been accused of cheating a petrol bunk owner of Rs 65.5 lakh in a span of three months.

The duo — Manjunatha and Manjula — worked at the Chetty Pitstop petrol bunk located on the New Ring Road in Nayandahalli. They won the trust of the owner and skimmed the money.

The Chandra Layout police, who have registered a case, are yet to arrest the suspects, who has been employed at the petrol bunk for the past four years.

They asked the owner, C Mani Chetty (64), to submit the sales report for the past three months to substantiate his claim.

Chetty said Manjunatha earned his trust by concocting a story that he was attacked by miscreants while heading to the bank to deposit the weekend collection of Rs 36 lakh. Manjunatha told Chetty that his attackers sprayed chilli powder on his face to rob the money, but he managed to stave them off.

Chetty, who was out with his family on a trip when the alleged incident happened, praised Manjunatha’s loyalty. “From then on, he became like a part of our family,” Chetty told DH.

But the owner was bombarded with complaints from the petrol bunk about dwindling fuel stocks and no money to show.

While Chetty was busy with his other businesses, his son was out on poll-related work, and as a result, both could not check the crisis at the petrol bunk. The complaints became more desperate from August 11 to November 11.

When Chetty personally checked the stock, he was shocked to realise that around 55,200 litres of petrol, 27,400 litres of diesel, and 3,900 litres of extra premium petrol were sold,  for which Manjunatha had no accounts to show. The owner filed a complaint with the Chandra Layout police.

Police sources revealed that Chetty made use of his friendship with a senior officer at the KP Agrahara police station, where Manjunatha and Manjula were taken for informal questioning.

After police interrogation, they were brought to an office room in the petrol bunk, where Chetty issued threats and demanded his money.

Manjunatha said he would file a complaint against Chetty, while Manjula said she would kill herself by consuming poison. Fearing repercussions, Chetty filed a complaint with the police on November 16.