The Davangere police have arrested a shopkeeper in Karnataka for allegedly defrauding eight young women on a Kannada matrimonial platform. The accused identified as Madhu had allegedly promised jobs to the women and extorted money from them. Madhu had been evading arrest since 2019 but has now been apprehended and remanded in judicial custody.

The accused Madhu hails from Machahalli village in Karnataka’s Mandya district. He faces charges in eight different cases registered across various cities, including Davangere, Harihara, Mandya, Chikkamagaluru, and Bangalore.

Madhu’s modus operandi involved contacting women on the Kannada matrimonial platform under the pretence of providing jobs. He would then proceed to extort money from them.
In one instance, he allegedly swindled Rs 21 lakh from a woman in Davangere. The total amount he is accused of having stolen across the eight cases is Rs 62.83 lakh.