Contractor, 72, cheated of ₹11.5L

Bengaluru: A 72-year-old first grade civil contractor has alleged that a miscreant cheated him of Rs 11.5 lakh after promising to get his pending bills cleared by the public works department (

PWD

).

RT Venkategowda

, a resident of Papareddypalya, told police that he had completed various projects for the PWD in 2020-21 and submitted bills to the tune of Rs 331.6 lakh for clearance.

Venkategowda

visited the PWD office in Vikasa Soudha and met suspect Ashok

Chakravarthy

alias

Uday Prabhu

. He informed Chakravarthy that his bills were pending. Chakravarthy claimed that he knew all the officials in the PWD and that he would help clear the bills within 15 days. He demanded 7% of the total bill amount as commission.Venkategowda, who paid Rs 11.5 lakh to Chakravarthy in September 2021, alleged that Chakravarthy used a private car bearing the Karnataka state government emblem. JB Nagar police have registered a case of cheating and further investigation is under way.