Crime

A customer of Mansi Jewellers on 24th Main in Sector 1 has allegedly cheated the shop owner worth Rs 18 lakh. The fraud occurred between July 20 and July 2, 2019. However, the police complaint was filed two months later on September 7.

According to Munnaram who runs Mansi Jewellers, Nagireddy and his wife Reddamma were transacting with his store for five months. On more than six occasions, they took jewellery in advance and paid the entire amount a couple of days later.

In the same vein, they allegedly bought jewellery worth Rs 4 lakh on August 20, 2019 and an additional 367 gram gold jewellery worth Rs 14 lakh on July 2, 2019. They said that they wanted to first show the jewellery to their relatives and if they like it, they would come and pay the full amount for them.

Based on their previous record, Munnaram felt that the couple would come back like they had done half a dozen times before. However, when he called them to return the jewellery or pay for the items they took from him, the husband allegedly mouthed expletives and threatened him with dire consequences if the jeweller called him repeatedly.

The HSR Layout cops have registered a case of cheating (IPC 420) and criminal intimidation (506), and are investigating.

The Canara Bank branch located on 17th Cross, Sector 7, HSR Layout, recently became a victim of fraud. According to bank employee Vasanthi N (52), the accused happens to be Syed Fairoze Pasha, an autorickshaw driver who is absconding.

Vasanthi is the chief manager at Canara Bank in HSR Layout’s Sector 7 branch. Syed Fairoze Pasha happens to hold an account with her branch. On August 27, 2019 at around 3.15pm, he allegedly deposits a cheque of Rs 4.8 lakh to be transferred into his account.

The cheque happened to be from a company called Systems Control Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd. The same day, the money gets digitally transferred into his account. Pasha allegedly withdraws Rs 4.5 lakh in cash from the same branch. Later, he withdraws Rs 10,000 from an ATM and Rs 15000 through netbanking.

Two days later, the HSR branch receives an enquiry from their Electronic City branch. Apparently, the cheque was meant for another company called SMPS CMC Applications, but Pasha had withdrawn the money and defrauded the System Controls firm.

On August 31, an employee of Citi Union Bank’s Krishnagiri branch in Tamil Nadu informs the HSR branch that the System Controls firm had deposited the cheque with them on August 22, 2019, and it was meant for SMPS CMC Applications  However, the cheque vanished from the bank later. Therefore, HSR Layout’s Canara Bank has alleged that the accused tampered the cheque and made away with the money.

The alleged crime occurred between August 26 and September 4, 2019. The FIR was filed against the accused on September 4 at 9.30am. The HSR cops have registered a case of cheating and are investigating the whereabouts of the accused and the veracity of the complaint filed by the nationalised bank.

Chain snatchers are striking it rich at the many exhibitions happening on BBMP Grounds in Sector 2 abutting 19th Main and 17th Cross. Two women learnt this the hard way when they found their gold necklaces missing the moment they had stepped out of the open space. Two similar incidents were registered on August 25 and 26.

FIRST INCIDENT
MJ Sharada, a 72-year-old women and a resident of Sector 2 was the first victim on August 25. She lost her plain gold chain and mangalsutra. On August 24 at 7pm, she had been to Srinivasa Kalyanotsava celebrations on BBMP Grounds. When she came out of the venue at 10pm, she found the 20 gram gold necklace on her neck missing.

In addition, her friend Shankari G Bhat also found her 24 gram mangalsutra missing as well. Alleging that someone had stolen their necklaces during the programme and taking advantage of the teeming crowd, the two victims have urged the cops to trace the culprits and recover their goods. The police have registered two theft cases and are investigating.

SECOND INCIDENT
The next day, on August 26 at 9pm, 67-year-old Gowramma fell victim at the same venue. The Sector 3 resident lost a 50 gram gold chain at the same Srinivasa Kalyanotsava celebrations on BBMP Grounds. The cops have registered a case of theft and are investigating the role of one gang being part of both the incidents.

A firm housed in NR Tower on 17th Cross, 19th Main in Sector 4 shut shop within months of its operations. The company has allegedly cheated over 60 people who were given work-from-home jobs but never got paid.

Dipreeth was one such victim. This 23-year-old resident of BTM Layout posted his resume on online sites like Naukri, Indeed and LinkedIn. Later, one firm named Mac Infotech Company based in HSR Layout reached out to him.

When he reported to work, the officials allegedly asked him to work from home and the work will be assigned to them online. Dipreeth worked on the assignments given by the firm for three months. When the payments never came, he went to enquire with the firm only to realise that the establishment had evacuated the co-working space they were operating from.

When Dipreeth looked around the coworking space, he also realised that he was not the only one allegedly cheated by the firm. There was Shamsuddin (23) and around 60 other employees who had a similar complaint.

The cops have registered a case of cheating and are investigating.

Recenty, a house was broken into in HSR Layout. Interestingly, not all the gold and silver jewellery was stolen. It appears that the thief was quite selective on what needed to be stolen.

The police complaint is filed by Harisha HG, a 39-year-old resident of Sector 2. The theft occurred when Harisha left home on August 15 at 4.30pm to visit his uncle’s home in Koramangala. When he returned around 9.40pm, the front door knob was broken and the door was wide open.

When Harisha inspected the interiors, he found all the belongings scattered all over the place. He found that while some gold and silver jewellery was stolen, the rest was not.

The cops have registered a case of theft and trespassing, and are investigating.

Shivaram Narayanan, a 36-year-old employee with Cult Fit Healthcare Pvt Ltd, and a resident of Sector 2, has accused Avijit Alakatti and Devi Prasad Biswal of mouthing expletives and threatening him with life for cancelling their business contract with Cult.

The Cult Fit corporate office in Sector 3, HSR Layout, aligns with various software firms to support its suite of services. For Cult Fit Healthcare, the firm attaches different software firms to service its clientele. One such company was Book Your Gym Pvt Ltd. Cult Fit signed an agreement with this firm in May this year. However, when Shivaram sought legal opinion on this firm, it was not favourable. This led to the cancellation of the business agreement between Cult and Book Your Gym.

Apparently, this did not go down well with Shivaram’s new business partners. He has alleged that Avijit Alakatti and Devi Prasad Biswal of Book Your Gym called Shivaram and asked him to attach their firm based on the signed agreement. They allegedly mouthed expletives and threatened Shivaram with dire consequences.

The cops have charged the accused for criminal intimidation and intentional insult.

Dowry harassment began from August 22, 2018 and ended on April 22, 2019. The police case was filed on August 1, 2019. This is the second such case from Sector 3 in the last one year.

According to 30-year-old BR Geetha (name changed to protect identity), a resident of Vishweshwariah Layout, Shashi Kumar GN (34), a resident of Sector 3, married her on August 22, 2018 in front of family members at a temple in JP Nagar, Bangalore.

Her family members apparently gifted him valuables worth Rs 30 lakh, including a jeep. According to Geetha, the harasment began the very first day when her husband and mother in law Umadevi (56) pestered her for little things and tortured her both physically and psychologically by asking her for more money.

According to the police complaint, Geetha’s husband and mother-in-law hit her by hand, threatened her with life, and mouthed expletives. Even her husband’s elder brother Dilip Kumar (38) pestered the family for more money and family property over WhatsApp calls from Dubai where he stayed.

The matter reached a head when she was thrown out of her husband’s house in HSR Layout on April 22, 2019. Geetha has charged her husband, mother in law and brother in law for abetting dowry and torturing her ever since she got married a year ago.

The cops have registered the case under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and have also filed five charges under the Indian Penal Code for subjecting a woman to cruelty, intentional insult, criminal intimidation, and voluntarily causing hurt.