Conman held after hiding for 5 years

A man who was on the run for five years after duping seven nationalised banks and about 100 people of about Rs6 crore was arrested in the city past week.

Deputy commissioner of police (North) HS Revanna said J Krishna Parameshwara Bhatta, 59, fooled his victims by using colour photocopy of a building he owns in Vijayanagar in the city. He was absconding since duping Standard Chartered bank in 2007. He was arrested from his relative’s house near Central Silk Board Junction on Hosur Road on September 13.

Bhatta had pledged the original documents of the building with Standard Chartered bank, but only after making colour photocopies of the documents. He got a loan of Rs42 lakh from the bank. He pledged the photocopies—passing them as originals—with six other nationalised banks and availed of huge amount as loan.

Also, he duped many city dwellers this way, ‘selling’, ‘leasing’ different floors of the building. Revanna said the interrogation thus far has revealed that Bhatta gathered more than `6 crore this way. As the police get more information about his exploits, the number is likely to go up. More than 10 cases have been registered against him in various police stations in the city.

The DCP said Bhatta’s wife, Asha, and associate Sundar Bhat are also involved in the case and the police are on the lookout for him. Also, the police suspect that some of the officials of the banks he duped were hand-in-glove with the culprits. Investigation in this regard is on.