Bengaluru crime: Man booked for duping two people of Rs 54 lakh in property deals

Bengaluru: Indiranagar police are searching for a man who allegedly cheated two people of Rs 54 lakh in real estate deals, officials said.

The suspect has been identified as BV Sridhar.

The victim, 32-year-old Rekha I, from Udayanagar, told police in her complaint that she met Sridhar in 2020. He told her to contact him if she was interested in purchasing property, as he dealt in real estate.

Sridhar met Rekha, who worked with an NGO, again in October 2021 in Bengaluru and told her that he would secure a commercial site for her for a low price. She agreed and sought a plot in Davanagere. He allegedly said he would sell them his plot for Rs 13 lakh, and they reached an agreement.

Between November 2021 and December 2021, Rekha wired him Rs 13 lakh from her and her mother’s bank accounts. On November 25, 2021, the plot was transferred to Rekha’s mother and registered in her name, the FIR stated.

Rekha alleged that Sridhar approached them again in March the following year with a similar offer, and she wired him Rs 26.50 lakh from her, her mother's and brother's bank accounts and gave him Rs 4.50 lakh in cash after reaching an agreement for land either in Bengaluru or Tumakuru.

Rekha also alleged that he later retransferred the plot he had sold her from her mother’s name to his name after taking her to Davanagere by initially claiming that he would have it jointly registered for availing loans.

She later learnt that the same man had cheated her colleague Veena of Rs 10 lakh with a similar offer, the FIR stated.

A police investigator told DH that they registered a case on December 7 related to cheating and are verifying the allegations.