City woman duped

Mysore City police told Deccan Herald that Shantha, wife of late Nagaraj of Sharada Nagar in Bangalore, came here on August 31 to meet one Varadaraj, who had promised a lot of jewellery for Rs two lakh. Varadaraj had asked her to meet in front of city hotel.

Varadaraj collected the money from her and gave a packed tumbler, stating that it contained jewellery. He had warned her against opening it, saying that the police might nab her. He had also sent a youth to escort her to Bangalore in a train.

At Kengeri, the youth asked Rs 100 from her, to buy eatables. When he did not return, the lady grew suspicious and opened the tumbler only to find tamarind inside. Shantha's husband had passed away recently and had received Rs 1.5 lakh from benefits and had raised additional Rs 50,000 by pawning her jewellery.

Shantha's younger sister Sudha, who also resides in Bangalore, had received a call from a person introducing himself as Varadaraj. When he had told Sudha about the jewellery, she grew suspicious and  asked him how he got her cellphone number. He had claimed that he had got the number from her friend Kala. Sudha did not enquire with Kala but informed her sister about the jewellery.