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How a skeleton led to a scam

Staff Reporter

Members of a gang tried to create a fake owner and usurp the property

Chandrika suspected to have died in her house in 2007
Two rag-pickers broke in and plundered the house

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

FALSE IDENTITY: The late K.B. Chandrika (left) whose property was set to be usurped by a gang with the help of Navamani who was made to impersonate the former with the help of a voter’s identity card.

BANGALORE: A compelling tale of intrigue, impersonation, serendipity, loneliness, big money, and crime has come to light with the arrest of G. Venkatesh Gurappa, self-proclaimed president of the All India Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Development Association, and eight others.

The Organised Crime Wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) made the arrests for their alleged attempt to acquire property worth several crores of rupees belonging to an heiress who died alone, by creating a fake owner, Commissioner of Police Shankar Bidari said here on Saturday.

K.B. Chandra alias Chandrika, hailing from a family of rich silk merchants who flourished during the pre-Independence era, died in 2007. The police said it appeared that no one was beside the unmarried woman, who owned property in prime locations here as well as in Chennai, when she died.

The following year, two rag pickers broke into the dilapidated Cubbonpet house to find her skeletal remains, which they threw into an open drain.

They then stripped the house of gold, household articles and, most importantly, the property documents.

In the course of disposing of the gold and other items, they came in contact with Venkatesh Gurappa, who lives in 11th Main in Srinivasanagar.

He, the police said, went to inspect the abandoned house and found more documents and hatched a plan to usurp crores of rupees by getting his mother-in-law Navamani, from Chennai, to impersonate Chandra.

Another accused, Srikanth, helped Navamani to get a ration card and voter’s identity card in the name of Chandra, with which she opened accounts in two banks. By using forged signatures, she transferred Rs. 8.45 lakh from Chandra’s accounts.

They were in the process of transferring property estimated at Rs. 9 crore when the CCB, tipped off by an anonymous letter, tracked them down and arrested them, Mr. Bidari said.

The police seized Rs. 2 lakh in cash, 50 gm of gold ornaments and property documents from the accused, who were named as G. Venkatesh Gurappa (38), V. Kumar Raj (23) of Hennur Main Road, Anand Muthuswamy (24) of Jai Bheem Nagar, Kamal Subrahmani (23) from Jai Bheem Nagar 4th Main, Narasimhamurthy M. Subbanna (45) of Kanakapura Main Road at Ganapathipur, Aruna Prakash (38) off Sarakki Thota in J.P. Nagar 35th Main Road, Srikanth Chikkaiah (28) from Hesaraghatta Main Road and Vikram alias Vicky Arogyaswamy (19) from Kuvempu Nagar 2nd Stage. Chandra had a house estimated at Rs. 2 crore on Hospital Road in Srirampuram, a site estimated at Rs. 3 crore on Hospital Road in the same area, Rs. 3 crore worth property on Cubbonpet Main Road and a Housing Board site worth Rs. 1 crore in Ashok Nagar in Chennai.

A senior police officer, familiar with the investigation, told The Hindu that Chandra’s father Balakrishnaiah was a leading silk merchant whose family was one of the first in the city to buy a car.

Chandra remained unmarried and her older sister Ashwathamma, married to Raju, a PWD engineer with the then Mysore Government, moved in with her after her husband died.

Upon her death, her property were bequeathed to Chandra.

Chandra, who appeared to be a recluse, had not hired any domestic help. It is understood that she has relatives in Chennai. Mr. Bidari has asked them to contact him.

A CCB official described the main accused Venkatesh Gurappa as adept at cheating people through impersonation. He has been accused of taking the retirement benefit of a BBMP worker, Anni. The Ulsoorgate police are investigating the case.

He allegedly cheated a woman in Srinivasanagar in 2003 by taking away original property documents by promising to get her a bank loan.

Later, he allegedly helped himself to Rs. 8 lakh from the Central Bank of India branch in Indiranagar. The Yeshwanthpur police are investigating the case.

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