BENGALURU: A traveling fortune teller failed to foresee the consequences of his actions when he extorted money from two women on the pretext of performing a puja to protect their families from death or misfortune. .
The suspect, BM Venkataramanappa (42) from Chintamanai in Chikkaballapur, was arrested and lodged in Bangalore Central Jail.
Police said Venkataramanappa is a professional Budhubudike suspect. Budubudike is a fortune teller who travels around playing the cauldron drum to perform special pujas and rituals to ward off future misfortunes and tell good fortune.
He was arrested in connection with the investigation into the robbery of 100 grams of gold from a woman in Bengaluru on March 2, 2024. During police questioning, he revealed that he had robbed another woman in a similar manner in 2020.
On the afternoon of March 2, 2024, Venkataramanappa appeared outside his house in Satish Reddy Layout, Hongasandra, south-east Bangalore, and Gouranma, a 37-year-old housewife, came out after hearing the rattling of a kettle drum. It’s here.
Venkataramanappa announced that a death in his family may be expected within the next three days. Coincidentally, another fortune teller had also predicted his death three months earlier, so Gouramma was worried. “Some of your relatives have cast black magic on your family. Within three days, one person will die. After that, one after another will die,” Venkataramanappa said. Closed.
Gouramma, the mother of two teenage daughters and the wife of a private company employee, invited Venkataramanappa to her home and sought help. Venkataramanappa told her that she could perform the puja. He took out a pot from his bag and asked Golamma to put gold jewelry in it. When Gurumma put the gold in the pot, Venkataramanappa asked her to light the incense. He performed aarati and returned the pot to Gouramma with the assurance that the effects of black magic were nullified.
“After some time, Venkataramanappa was asked to open the pot and left. When he opened it, he found rice inside and the jewelry was missing,” he said, filing a complaint with the police. Mr. Gooranma said.
Police said Venkataramanappa’s return visit to the spot helped in the arrest. “We had CCTV footage that showed his face. But we couldn’t trace him because there were no other details. When he came back, an informant alerted us and we ,” the investigator said.
“During interrogation, Venkataramanappa confessed to having taken 20 grams of gold from another woman in a similar manner in 2020. We have recovered 115 grams of gold from him and the victim We plan to return it to ,” police said.
