BENGALURU: A 75-year-old paddu vendor, who continued running his stall to save money for his own last rites, was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.9 lakh and a mobile phone by a 35-year-old woman posing as a police officer, who promised to help him recover his wife's missing gold chain.




Identified as Siva Rani, the woman allegedly befriended Sriramulu Naidu, who runs a paddu stall on 16th Main Road in Mico Layout, around three months ago. Claiming to be a police officer, she assured him that she could help trace his wife's gold chain, which had gone missing at Hosur bus stand around six months ago.




Rani allegedly gained Naidu's confidence by visiting his stall regularly and wearing a khaki-coloured sari on some occasions to reinforce her claim. She also told him that her brother worked at a court and could use his contacts to help recover the jewellery.




Over the next three months, she allegedly collected around Rs 40,000 from him on various pretexts, including payments to local police personnel in Hosur.




The alleged fraud took a bigger turn on October 26, when Rani called Naidu to her rented house, asking him to bring his documents. She took his mobile phone, claiming she needed to make a call as her own phone had no network, and allegedly transferred Rs 1.6 lakh from his digital payment accounts to multiple accounts.




She then asked him to fetch some tablets from a medical store, promising to save her brother's number on his phone. When Naidu returned, she had allegedly fled with his phone, valued at around Rs 18,000.




Money saved for his last rites




Naidu told police that the money was meant to cover his funeral expenses after his death. His children live separately, and he did not want them to bear the financial burden of performing his last rites. Despite his age, he had continued working at the stall to save for the purpose.




Family members said he was deeply distressed after losing his savings and had even attempted to end his life by consuming an excessive number of pills.




Begur police have registered a case under Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating. A senior police officer said Rani was absconding and efforts were under way to arrest her.




Rani is also an accused in another cheating case registered at Banasawadi police station around six months ago, in which she was allegedly involved in cheating a cab driver of approximately Rs 16 lakh.