The owner of three eateries and his two wives are in trouble for allegedly cheating people who lent them money.
Nagaraju, alias Tatte Idli Nagaraju (42), hails from Harapanahalli in Davangere district, and runs three eateries — in Bidadi, Laggere and Mahalakshmi Layout — specialising in tatte idli.
Scores of people protested in front of his eatery at Mahalakshmi Layout on Monday, following which he went missing. People who went to his house found the door locked.
A resident of Shankarapuram Main Road in Mahalakshmi Layout, Nagaraju is married to sisters Ambika and Jayanthi.
Police said Nagaraju took loans claiming he had a turnover of `20,000 every day, and twice the amount on weekends.
He would ask acquaintances to lend him money to help him buy a building in a prime locality.
Chandrashekar M B, a businessman, said he had lent him `6 lakh. “When I visited his house to ask for the money, Ambika and Jayanthi kicked up a racket. They screamed that I had misbehaved with them and beat me in public,” he told Express. “Whenever lenders approached him, his wives would create a scene,” he said.
“His wives would threaten to file rape cases. Nagaraju would then step in and blackmail them,” Chandrashekar said.
Y M Kirankumar, Manju and Girish of a cultural organisation called Sangam, who had faced a similar plight, got together with their supporters on Monday and protested in front of Nagaraju’s eatery in Mahalakshmi Layout.
JD (S) MLA Gopalaiah was among those who participated in the protest.
Nagaraju got in touch with the police later in the day, and Nandini Layout police say they are questioning him.