Woman claims to be sole witness to Bengaluru Carlton Towers fire to siphon Rs 6 crore, arrested
The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch police have arrested the woman’s husband and an associate as well in the case, in which the victim is a businessman who was previously acquainted with her.
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The trio convinced the businessman that the Carlton Towers owner had offered Rs 25 crore in return for withdrawing her testimony in court. (PTI photo) A woman has been arrested for allegedly defrauding a businessman out of Rs 6 crore after claiming to be the sole witness of the 2010 Carlton Towers fire tragedy in Bengaluru and that she would get Rs 25 crore from the building’s owner if she withdrew her testimony.
B Dayananda, Commissioner of Police, on Tuesday announced the arrests of Rekha, 38; her husband Manjunath, 40; and their associate Chetan, 35, in the case.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police said Rekha, a BSc graduate, orchestrated the scam, while Manjunath, an MBA graduate and businessman, and Chetan, a financial advisor, assisted her in executing the plot.
According to the police, the trio approached the businessman claiming to be a witness to the Carlton Towers fire tragedy, in which nine people died. The businessman was previously acquainted with Rekha, who had presented herself as someone offering loans, the police said.
Rekha allegedly claimed that the Carlton Towers owner’s Rs 6-crore bank deposit had been frozen owing to action by the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate. To help “release” this amount, the trio asked the businessman for an initial loan of Rs 7 lakh, with assurances of repayment once the account was unfrozen.
“The trio proposed a deal, promising the victim a 2:1 return—offering Rs 2 crore for every Rs 1 crore he invested to help release the money,” a police officer said.
The trio convinced the businessman that the Carlton Towers owner had offered Rs 25 crore in return for withdrawing her testimony in court. Over time, he was manipulated into paying Rs 6 crore for alleged clearance charges and other expenses, according to the police.
Rekha was arrested on January 16 from a paying guest facility near Hoskote. The police said she confessed to the crime and revealed the involvement of her husband and Chetan, following which they arrested Manjunath at the couple’s home in KR Puram and Chetan in Hassan.
Further investigation revealed that Rekha had defrauded several others by offering loans. In one instance, she allegedly extorted Rs 31 lakh from a man through video call blackmail. The police also discovered that she had ignored multiple court summons related to cheque bounce cases.
The police said they uncovered transactions totaling Rs 24 crore between 2022 and 2024 in Rekha’s bank accounts. Investigations into other accounts linked to the accused are ongoing, they added.
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