HOSAPETA: Another case of swindling a BJP ticket aspirant to contest the May Assembly election has come to light in Vijayanagara district. This is the second such case after Hindu activist Chaitra Kundapura and three others were arrested for defrauding a businessman of Rs 5 crore by promising him a ticket for the Assembly elections.
In the latest instance, some local BJP leaders allegedly fleeced a retired engineer of over Rs 2.55 crore by promising him the party ticket to contest from the Hagaribommanahalli SC reserved constituency. They allegedly misused the name of BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel too. The victim, retired PWD engineer Shivamurthy C (62) from Havasi village in Hagaribommanahalli taluk, has filed a complaint at the Kotturu police station, alleging that BJP leaders Revanasiddappa and Shekar NP conned him.
He said, “Revanasiddappa met me during a felicitation ceremony after my retirement in October last year. He offered me a BJP ticket to contest from Hagaribommanahalli and made me meet another BJP leader from Puttur taluk of Dakshina Kannada, Shekar NP.”
‘Fooled me with fake call’
“They (Revanasiddappa and Shekar NP) assured me the ticket using Kateel’s name.” Shivamurthy said, “In October, they took Rs 1 crore from me and over time, I paid Rs 2.55 crore.
They fooled me using a fake call recording, making it look like the proceedings of the BJP central ticket selection committee. As the election approached and I did not get the ticket, I demanded my money back. They gave me two cheques, but they bounced. I wrote letters to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara and director general of police. I also filed the case at the Kotturu police station. It is similar to the Chaitra Kundapura case, where an industrialist was swindled, promising him a party ticket.”