Bengaluru: A 75-year-old paddu vendor, who continued working despite his advanced age to save money for his own last rites, was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.9 lakh and a mobile phone by a 35-year-old woman who posed as a police officer and promised to help him recover his wife’s missing gold chain.Paddu, a popular South Indian snack, particularly in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, is prepared by steaming batter in a specially designed mould.The woman allegedly gained the vendor’s trust over three months, collecting Rs 40,000 from him on various pretexts before taking his mobile phone and transferring another Rs 1.6 lakh from his digital payment accounts. She subsequently fled, leaving the elderly man devastated.According to a complaint filed by Sriramulu Naidu, who runs a paddu stall on 16th Main Road in Mico Layout, the woman, identified as Siva Rani, a resident of the same locality, first visited his stall around three months ago. Introducing herself as a police officer, she struck up conversations with him during subsequent visits and gradually gathered his personal details.During one of her initial visits, Rani allegedly wore a khaki-coloured sari, similar to those worn by women police constables, to lend credibility to her claim of being a police officer.During their conversations, Naidu told her that his wife’s gold chain had gone missing at Hosur bus stand around six months ago and that they had lodged a complaint with the jurisdictional police. Rani allegedly claimed that her brother worked at a court and assured Naidu that she could help recover the chain by using her contacts.After gaining his confidence, she allegedly collected around Rs 40,000 from him over the next three months, citing various reasons, including the need to pay local police personnel in Hosur.Naidu said Rani had taken him to her rented house in Mico Layout on several occasions. She lived alone and would often discuss financial matters with him, he said.The alleged fraud took a more serious turn on Oct 26. At around 10pm, Rani called Naidu and asked him to bring his documents. When he reached her house, she took his mobile phone, claiming that her own phone had no network and that she needed to make a call.She allegedly used his phone to transfer Rs 1.6 lakh from his digital payment application accounts to multiple accounts.When Naidu later asked her for her brother’s phone number, Rani asked him to fetch some tablets from a medical store, promising to save the number on his phone in his absence. However, when he returned, she had disappeared.Naidu said his total financial loss amounted to Rs 1.9 lakh, including the Rs 40,000 allegedly collected over three months and the Rs 1.6 lakh transferred from his accounts. His mobile phone, valued at around Rs 18,000, was also missing.Money saved for his final ritesNaidu said the money was meant to meet his funeral expenses after his death. His children live separately from him due to personal reasons, and he did not want them to bear the financial burden of performing his last rites. Despite his advanced age, he had continued running the stall to save money for this purpose.According to his family members, Naidu has been deeply distressed by the loss and even attempted to end his life by consuming an excessive number of pills.Begur police have registered a case under Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating. A senior police officer said Rani was absconding and that efforts were under way to apprehend her.She is also an accused in another cheating case registered at Banasawadi police station around six months ago. She was previously accused of cheating a cab driver of approximately Rs 16 lakh.
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