Minister's 'PA' cheats in the name of Karnataka CM's son

A Ballari native claiming to be the personal assistant of Social Welfare Minister B Sriramulu was arrested in a dramatic fashion in central Bengaluru on Thursday, days after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra went to the police saying the man had misused his name to cheat people.

Rajanna alias Raju, 40, was initially speculated to have been arrested from Sriramulu’s residence or as he walked out of it. But police clarified that he was arrested near Chalukya Hotel, Basaveshwara Circle. The arrest was made by the cybercrime sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB).

In a police complaint on June 28, Vijayendra accused Rajanna and a few other individuals of misusing his name to cheat people in return for illegal gratification. Rajanna allegedly promised to lobby with government officials for a commission.

Vijayendra told the police that neither did he know Rajanna nor had anything to do with him. He requested the police to take necessary action against all the people involved.

A police officer investigating the case said that Rajanna would be taken into custody for questioning, and maintained that they were yet to confirm that he was indeed Sriramulu’s PA. The police do have some photographs of him with Sriramulu though, the officer added.

Vijayendra has submitted to the police three audio recordings of Rajanna’s telephone conversation with the individuals who had allegedly paid him up for lobbying. In all the audio recordings, he used Vijayendra’s name, police said.

Police have found 20 such audio recordings being shared on WhatsApp and social media.