The Shorapur Police arrested a woman on the charge of misusing the name of MLA Narasimha Nayak (Rajugowda) during a telephone conversation with a man to offer him a job. The woman has been identified as Rekha M.N.
The police took action after Mr. Nayak lodged a complaint when an audio tape containing the voice of the accused and the man dragging his name went viral.
Superintendent of Police C.B. Vedamurthy, who released a press note here on Wednesday, said that a team of senior police officers headed by Police Inspector of Shorapur Sunil Mulimani and Police Inspector of CEN Station Bapugowda had been formed to investigate the case and take further action.
The team conducted the investigation based on the voice of the man in the audio tape and interrogated several people who were said to have been cheated by Rekha and her associate Erappagowda. The two, the police said, lured people offering them jobs for money. The team then arrested the woman.
During interrogation, it came to light that the two cheated people and collected several lakhs of rupees from them for jobs in a bank which was established by the accused through a trust, Dr. Vedamurthy said.
He said that the accused confessed to the fact that she never met Mr. Nayak and that she did not know him personally.
“She used to drag the name of the MLA while talking to people only to collect money from them, while offering them jobs. The accused has collected more than ₹20 lakh from three people after offering them jobs. But the number of people cheated by the accused is likely to go up,” he added.
The police have launched a search for Erappagowda, the Superintendent of Police said and added that the general public should be cautious and should not get influenced by anyone offering them jobs for money.
Basavaraj, Shivasharanappa, Savitha, Bannamma and Latha, all Police Department staff, were on the team.
