Mysuru: It is election season and is also a season of conmen duping people posing as influential politicians from a particular political party and a prospective election candidate.

One such conman who posed as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) and an MLA ticket aspirant from Mysuru has been arrested by Basaveshwaranagar Police in Bengaluru yesterday for cheating businessmen of several crores of rupees.

He has also cheated a Mysuru-based insurance agent and business consultant of Rs. 1,49,99,400 in the name of purchasing gold ornaments from him to be distributed among voters. Similarly, the conman has cheated a cloth merchant in Bengaluru.

The conman is 39-year-old L. Somanna, who claims to be a resident of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Nagar on T.Narasipur Road in Mysuru. He set up his base at a Godrej Apartments at Sahakaranagar on the Ballari Road in Bengaluru and always used to be in white attire with a troop of bodyguards and used to lead a lavish lifestyle. Investigation has revealed that Somanna has cheated businessmen in Mysuru and Bengaluru to the tune of Rs. 6 crore. Somanna’s close associate 28-year-old Antony was also arrested.

He would place orders for mangalsutras, gold chains, and other wedding-related items. He had also approached bank managers stating that he wanted lower denominations currencies to distribute to voters and had cheated a few banks.

Political connection

After his arrest, the Bengaluru Police found that a case has been registered at Nazarbad Police Station against him on Mar. 16 this year under IPC Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The complainant (identity not revealed based on request) has said that Somanna posed as an MLC and a ticket aspirant from Mysuru for the forthcoming Assembly elections. He claimed to be a close associate of mining baron and politician G. Janardhana Reddy, political leaders B. Sriramulu, H.D. Deve Gowda, H.D. Kumaraswamy and Siddharamaiah.

Lavish lifestyle: Police said that Somanna would get in touch with the victims through mutual contacts. He would go around with body guards claiming to be an MLC. His lifestyle would make anybody believe that he was a politician.

He would gain the victims’ confidence by purchasing gold and other items to the tune of Rs. 10 to 20 lakhs. He would make three or four purchases and this would make the victims trust him,” said a Police officer who is part of the investigating team.

Gold to lure voters

Somanna would claim that he was about to contest from Chitradurga or Mysuru and the mass wedding was part of his election campaign. The complainant from Mysuru was also told by Somanna that he would need certain gold ornaments to be distributed to woo voters.

“I was introduced to Somanna by one of my business contacts and friend (identity not revealed based on request) and Somanna interacted with me a couple of times and posed as an influential and wealthy politician,” the complainant has stated.

He further said that Somanna would ask him about costly house sites for purchase. “I did not suspect him at all as he dropped the names of big political leaders. After gaining my trust, Somanna told me that he would need 450 mangalsutras, each weighing 6 grams, and 60 Lakshmi gold coins, each weighing 30 grams to be distributed among the electorate. He even gave me his Income Tax records to prove that he is among the wealthiest people in Karnataka who paid the highest Income Tax,” the complainant told the Nazarbad Police.

Cheques bounce

He told the Police that as per Somanna’s instructions, he placed an order for the mangalsutras and the gold coins with a jeweller and got them done by paying Rs. 1,49,99,400. “Somanna took the gold ornaments from me and issued me two cheques. When I insisted on cash payments, Somanna told me that political leader Sriramulu had entrusted the responsibility of procuring gold ornaments. I trusted him and accepted two cheques and when I presented them in the bank, both of them bounced,” he told the Nazarbad Police.

The accused has cheated many others promising them government jobs and sites. By fabricating documents, he would file false cheque bounce complaints against the victims in order to deter them from filing complaints against him. He has cheated people of over Rs. 6 crore. The amount is yet to be recovered,” the officer said.

The Police have requested the public to lodge complaints if Somanna had cheated them. Victims can contact 080-22942516, 080-22943232 or mobile 94808-01729.