Bangalore:
The Bangalore police have arrested a 27-year-old high school dropout who cheated several girls and film stars posing as an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket star.
Armed with a fake identity card to claim that he is Raviraj Patil, an IPL cricket star from Mumbai, Somashekhar approached many girls with his girlfriend Susheeelamma (32), and their families as a prospective groom and cheated them.
He also cheated a few starlets, claiming that he was the marketing head of Karnataka State Cricket Association and would help them to get lucrative advertisement offers.
But luck ran out for Somashekhar when he cheated a family in North Karnataka as a groom identifying himself as Patil, and stayed in their house for two days. He later refused to marry the girl demanding Rs 2 lakh. The upset family filed a police complaint, following which Somashekhar was picked up.
Somashekhar downloaded all possible information about Ravia Patil from the Internet, and started impersonating him through the procured literature. Somashekhar approached few local dailies and managed to convince them he is Patil, and got a feature published with his photograph.
After collecting the cuttings, Somasekhar approached a leading Kannada daily and got an advertisement published in the matrimonial section. He started getting calls from families of prospective brides from not only within the state but also from neighbouring states such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Someshekhar would then visit the family with Susheelamma, and impress them with his 'star status'. Later, he would have sex with the 'bride-to-be', demand money from the family, and disappear. Embarrassed after being cheated, most families would not approach the police.
The accused was earlier arrested in a similar cheating case, where he tried to cheat a district cricket player, posing as captain of the state Ranji team and demanded Rs 15,000 to get him a berth in the team. Based on a complaint, Somashekhar was nabbed by the Cubbon park police in 2005 and was sentenced to one and half year of imprisonment. After his release, Somashekhar continued his 'adventures' as Patil.
ACP N Narasimhaiah said that Somashekhar has also cheated Govendhan, a Kannada filmmaker, for lakhs of rupees, promising him to make him his business partner in his advertising agency.
The police have recovered several fake ID cards that claim Somashekhar is a senior member of KSCA and the Indian Cricket Control Board. He used different visiting cards and IDs for different occasions, Narasimhaiah said adding that the accused has been booked under cheating and impersonation cases.