Saraswathipuram Police register case following Court direction

Mysuru: A woman, claiming that she has divine powers, has allegedly cheated an elderly man from Bantwal of Rs. 31.80 lakh and Sarswathipuram Police, based on the direction from the Third JMFC Court, have registered a case.

The accused woman is M.M. Vijayalakshmi, a resident of Saraswathipuram in Mysuru, while the complainant, who has been cheated is 61-year-old Suraj Hegde, a native of Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district.

Suraj, who works as a sales assistant at Ceramics Limited in Mangaluru, also owns agricultural land. In his complaint, Suraj stated that on Oct. 22, 2022, he came across a handbill with an advertisement offering ‘Lakshmi & Kubera Pujas’ for good life and financial stability.

After going through the advertisement, Suraj called the mobile number mentioned in the advertisement and a woman, who received the call, introduced herself as Vijayalakshmi, besides telling Suraj that she would be in Mangaluru on Nov. 1 and 2. Suraj then met Vijayalakshmi on the above said dates at a hotel in Managaluru where she was staying.

Vijayalakshmi told Suraj that she has divine powers and mantras to increase his wealth for which he has to follow certain rituals and made him believe that he could be a millionaire. She then told Suraj to come to Mysuru and perform puja for financial stability. She then reportedly took Rs. 30,000 from Suraj to perform the puja. After two months, she told Suraj that she has to get a ‘yajna’ performed by renowned purohits and scholars for which she required Rs. 4.50 lakh and took the money from Suraj.

When Suraj met Vijayalakshmi again, she told him that she had won lottery of Maharashtra Government twice and as she does not have the luck for the third time, she would transfer the lottery ticket to him and he had the chance to win between Rs. 2 crore and Rs. 20 crore.

She then told Suraj that she has to pay Rs. 26.80 lakh as tax for the Government and allegedly took the money from Suraj. Suraj also sold his wife’s gold jewellery and gold coins and gave Rs. 5 lakh to Vijayalakshmi. Suraj had given a total of Rs. 31.80 lakh to Vijayalakshmi.

In May 2025, Vijayalakshmi told Suraj that she has to communicate with the Maharashtra Government to receive the prize money in Mumbai for which she needed to translate the application form from Marathi into English and got his signatures on two blank papers. Suraj has alleged that Vijayalakshmi made him drink some medicine which made him dizzy and unable to know what was happening around him and then got his signatures on the blank papers.

Suraj further alleged that Vijayalakshmi told him that she would come on July 2, 2025 and give him Rs. 1 crore and switched off her mobile phone.

Later, a few people known by Vijayalakshmi, called him over the phone and told him that Vijayalakshmi had already given him (Suraj) Rs. 31.80 lakh after selling the house in Mysuru and why was he troubling her besides threatening him, the complaint added. Saraswathipuram Police, who have registered a case, are investigating.