BENGALURU: Former minister Varthur Prakash appeared before the police for questioning in connection with a case involving a woman who is accused of cheating a gold merchant of over Rs 2 crore.
The case was registered at the Commercial Street police station, and the police have arrested the accused, Shwetha. The police had issued three notices to Prakash for questioning in the case as Shwetha had allegedly purchased gold from a merchant by using Prakash’s name.
The Pulikeshinagar sub-division Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) questioned him for an hour. After the questioning, Prakash told reporters that the accused woman was not his friend and all allegations are false.
“It is true that I met her five months ago. It is natural to meet different people in politics. However, I came to know she used my name only after the police informed me,” he said, adding, “I provided all the information during the questioning.”
A senior officer said Prakash returned the gold ornaments which were allegedly gifted to him by Shwetha and he was not arrested as his involvement was not found in the case.
According to a complaint filed by the owner of Navaratna Jewellers, Shwetha posed as an associate of Prakash and expressed her intention to purchase gold ornaments for her new jewellery business. The jewellery store staff delivered around 2.95 kg of gold worth Rs 2.42 crore to an address provided by the accused. However, she failed to pay the amount and allegedly started issuing threats.