Man poses as DK Shivakumar's gunman; dupes Bengaluru youth of Rs 1.6 lakh

A swindler posing as Congress strongman DK Shivakumar's gunman was arrested in Bengaluru after he duped a city vendor of Rs 1.6 lakhs, promising to get him a government job.

Sunil, 28, hails from Karnataka's Mandya district. He was arrested by the Cottonpet police after they received a complaint from a man named Veerabhadra from Holenarasipura in Hassan district. The complainant is a juice vendor near Kempegowda Bus Stand. Sunil, who introduced himself as Shivakumar's gunman, was a customer at the shop. He made friendly conversations with Veerabhadra, asking him about his family and whereabouts.

According to reports, Sunil conned Veerabhadra of Rs 1.6 lakhs claiming that he can easily get him a government job if Veerabhadra was willing to pay. To make the victim believe the claim, he showed him his photo with the Congress leader. The photo was taken at a private event in Mysore.

The accused convinced Veerabhadra that he had links with DKS and requested Rs 10,000 from him as the first payment. Later, he demanded Rs 2 lakh, saying that the paperwork was finished but he will have to pay up first to obtain it.

Veerabhadra believed Sunil and paid him Rs 1.5 lakh and promised to pay him the rest of the amount in instalments. But after taking money, the accused never came back to the shop and did not pick his calls. When the victim tried calling him from a different number, he posed as a stranger and acted like he did not know him.

After Veerabhadra understood that he was hoaxed by Sunil, he filed a complaint at Cottonpet police station in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The police then tracked the conman and arrested him. They also suspect him of defrauding several job aspirants using the politician's name.