SHIVAMOGGA: Four men allegedly cheated a priest from Shivamogga and pocketed Rs 1.7 crore. Mohammed Fairoz Pasha, 56, a priest at Bhutappa Swamy temple of Kodli village, filed a cheating case against Thimme Gowda, Kumar, Renuka and Swamy. They visited the temple in August 2018 and Gowda introduced Renuka and Swamy as rice-pulling businessmen.
Later, Gowda told Pasha he needed Rs 2 crore which could help him make Rs 20 crore in the business, and promised to return Rs 5 crore to those who could give him Rs 2 crore. “I decided to help Gowda, hoping I could renovate the temple with the money. I sold my RT Nagar house in Bengaluru for Rs 60 lakh. In all, I gave Rs 1.7 crore to him, but he cheated me,” Pasha claimed. High Grounds cops said Pasha filed a case with them as he met the accused and paid cash in a hotel at Chalukya Circle.