Bommanahalli police arrested a 45-year-old fortune teller for allegedly stealing 115 grams of gold coins from a housewife on the pretext of performing a health puja in March last year.
BM Venkataramana was recently caught moving suspiciously in the same area looking for a target and was detained by the police for questioning on suspicion.
Upon detailed interrogation, he is said to have confessed, after which police recovered gold valuables worth Rs 800,000 that he had pawned at a gold shop in Chintamani. With his arrest, police also solved a burglary case reported last year and recovered 20 grams of gold valuables from him.
AD Inspector Preetham said the accused claimed that someone had performed black magic on the housewife and promised to get rid of the evil through a special puja.
The accused asked her to put all her gold valuables in a clay pot, but then, in a distraction, gave her a similar pot containing vermilion, turmeric and rice grains. The defendant told her to leave the vase near the safe for several hours until he showed her the portrait of God and fled.
When the victim opened the pot as instructed, his valuables were gone. She filed a complaint with the police, who alerted the beat police to keep an eye on the suspect before he picked her up near Bomanahalli bus stop.
issued – January 22, 2025 12:41am IST
