Goolihatti D. Shekar, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Hosadurga constituency, has filed a cheating complaint with Annapoorneshwari Nagar police against three people who allegedly duped him of ₹1 crore. According to the police, the trio had forged documents and deeds for 10 acres on the outskirts of the city, which they sold to the MLA. After he paid ₹1 crore to them, the MLA learnt that the land was State-owned grazing land.
The prime accused, Narayana Reddy K.M., had forged the documents and named his wife Bhagya as the property owner, said a police officer. The scam was perpetrated in June this year. After multiple attempts to get his money back, Shekar approached the police on Friday. Based on his complaint, the police have registered an FIR against Narayana Reddy, his wife Bhagya and her mother Padmavathy.
In his complaint, Shekar said that he is in the granite business and was looking for land to set up a stockyard on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
In the first week of June, Narayana Reddy approached him stating that he wanted to sell 10 acres at Kudlu village in Anekal.
After several rounds of negotiations, the price was fixed at ₹1 crore and Shekar transferred Rs. 50 lakh through RTGS. The complainant also claimed to have paid ₹50 lakh in cash to Reddy.
Reddy submitted an MoU signed by Bhagya and Padmavathy with a general power of attorney.
But when Shekar visited the land to plan the construction of a stockyard, neighbours informed him that the land belonged to the State. When the MLA sent the documents to authorities for verification, he was told that they were forged.
In his complaint, Shekar said he contacted Reddy who promised to return the money after selling a plot of land at Doddakallasandra. When he demanded that the money be returned immediately, Reddy allegedly refused.
The police are on the lookout for Reddy and his family members.