KAS aspirant conned of Rs 59.50 lakh, accused held

BENGALURU: A 32-year-old conman, who had allegedly targeted KAS aspirants to extort money by promising them to get good marks in competitive exams, has been arrested by the Vijayanagar police. 
The accused is Siddaraju Subhashchandra Kattimani, who hails from Belagavi. The police said Savitha Shantappa Yalasangikar, a KAS aspirant, had recently filed a complaint, accusing him of cheating her of Rs 59.50 lakh. The accused was arrested based on her complaint. 

“Kattimani had come in contact with the woman through a common friend. Savitha, a native of Kalaburagi, had come to Bengaluru to prepare for the KAS competitive exam. The accused claimed that he knew several IAS and IPS officers and offered to help her in scoring well in the exam.

Trusting him, the woman had first paid Rs 15.50 lakh in August 2020. He had further claimed that his supposed contacts had agreed to help her with Tahsildar’s position. He also demanded more money from her. The woman had paid a total of Rs 59.59 lakh by selling her mother’s gold jewelery and pledging agricultural land. After receiving the money, Kattimani started avoiding the victim and also threatened her,” the police said.

The police are investigating if the accused had cheated others in a similar way.