Ex-min Varthur Prakash questioned in jewellery fraud case

Bengaluru: Former minister Varthur Prakash, whose name was linked with a woman accused of cheating a jewellery shop owner, appeared before the investigating officer (IO) Tuesday morning and was questioned for almost three hours.
The fraud case accused — Swetha Gowda — claimed to be a close aide of Prakash. She was arrested by the Commercial Street police.
The jeweller stated that she took about 2.9kg gold ornaments worth Rs 2.42 crore from him. He said Swetha used to take gold from his shop for the last few months and initially paid for them. For the gold she took after Aug 26, she didn't pay the money or return the ornaments.
She claimed that she was also in the gold business and would sell the ornaments purchased from him. The jeweller, who owns two shops on Commercial Street and Avenue Road, even delivered the gold ornaments to Prakash's house once. The jeweller, however, told media persons that when the ornaments were delivered to his house, Prakash was not present there.
After Prakash's name surfaced, the police issued notices to him. He responded to the third notice and appeared before police Tuesday. A senior police officer said Prakash told them that Swetha had visited his house a few times, introducing herself as a social worker. He said he had nothing to do with her gold business or the fraud. He answered all the questions asked by the IO and was released after recording his statement.
Speaking to media persons later, Prakash said, "For the last few days, allegations have been made against me stating that Swetha Gowda is my aide. It is all false; I have known her for the last six months. Since I am a politician, many people visit my house. By misusing my name, she took the ornaments from jewellery shops. I got to know about it only during police investigation. I am deeply hurt by the allegations. No one will give 10 grams of gold if an MLA or MP calls and recommends. There are 20 more cases being registered against her. I have no connection with any of them. She took photographs of herself with politicians and misused them."
Swetha saved politicians' numbers on her phone by the name of sweet dishes. She had saved Prakash's number as Gulab Jamun.