Mysuru: Jayalakshmipuram Police have arrested a 60-year-old man on charges of sexually abusing a minor girl after luring her with cinema roles.

Shivashankarachari, 60, of Bengaluru is the one who has been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Shivashankarachari is accused of sexually abusing a minor girl of the city on the pretext of getting her roles in cinema and TV serials and later pushing her into flesh trade. Acting on a tip off, the Police picked up Shivashankarachari from a house in Vinayakanagar on Wednesday.

During interrogation, it has been discovered that the accused had molested several girls and had also cheated a few home-makers of money after setting up women Self-Help Groups under fake names.

The arrested Shivashankarachari had also cheated a man from KRS of lakhs of rupees after falsely promising a Government job for his (KRS man) son.

Soon after Shivashankarachari’s arrest, several women have lodged complaints with Jayalakshmipuram Police accusing him of either molesting or cheating them, it is learnt.

The accused is said to have rented two houses in Vinayakanagar (Paduvarahalli) and one each at Hinkal and Belavadi to carry out his crimes. He is also learnt to have carried out such crimes at Mandya and several other places.