Man uses top cop's name to threaten lenders, held

A small-time Kannada actor has been arrested for threatening moneylenders by falsely claiming that he knew the city police chief.

Srinivas alias Kiran, a native of Malavalli, Mandya district, is also accused of cheating dozens of young women by claiming to be closely related to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa.

Srinivas, who claims to have done small roles in Kannada films KGF and Avane Srimannarayana, allegedly promised to help two young businessmen who were having troubles with the loans they had taken from moneylenders. He allegedly took the loan and company documents from them and threatened the moneylenders against demanding the repayment by claiming he knew the city police chief.

Srinivas landed in trouble when the moneylenders approached the city police chief and filed a complaint at the Sadashivanagar police station. The case was later transferred to the CCB which arrested Srinivas.

A CCB officer said that they had found more than 100 pictures of young women in Srinivas’s possession. He cheated the women by claiming to be a close relative of Darshan, the officer said.