A 23-year-old betel leaf seller’s 'confidence level' in claiming to be the son of home minister R. Ashok allowed him to sit along side Royal Challengers Bangalore team owner Sidhartha Mallya and watch two back to back IPL matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
But he ran out of luck after an alert cop nabbed him on Sunday night.
The accused, Rakesh Gowda alias Umesh from a slum near Jayanagar, was arrested along with his friend Satish alias Varun (36). Umesh called up Devaraj, ACP (Cubbon Park), claiming to be Mr Ashok’s son.
Umesh told the officer that the minister’s house had not got the tickets and the officer would be in trouble.
Devaraj said, “I told him to contact the event management company or Javagal Srinath, secretary, Karnataka State Cricket Association. At the stadium, policemen showed me the accused and said that he was the home minister’s son. An office-bearer of the event management company handed three tickets, each costing Rs 55,000, to Rakesh.
"I contacted the home minister’s staff, who told me Mr Ashok’s son is not named Rakesh. Since he had called from his mobile phone, I found that his address to be Jayanagar slum. I confronted him. He claimed to be the son of home minister’s sister.
"Later he said he was minister’s sister-in-law’s son. He then admitted to the crime and said he did it just to enjoy a lavish lifestyle."
Ashok’s ‘son’ attended all major events
Rakesh Gowda alias Umesh from a Jayanagar slum confessed to the Cubbon Park police that he has attended all the international sports events, including Indian Grand Prix, international music gigs of Metallica and David Guetta, and after-event parties of IPL for the last two years.
His modus operandi was similar in all these cases. He would dress according to the occasion and carried a mobile phone that would look expensive, but cost a mere Rs 6,000.
Ravikanthe Gowda, DCP (Central division), said that Rakesh Gowda also confessed to having watched the IPL match played on April 10 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders sitting along side Sidhartha Mallya.
“The event management company has been advised to check the antecedents of the persons before issuing them the tickets or passes. As a precautionary measure, a survey team comprising staff of the event management company and the police have been formed to check for suspicious people during the matches.”
“During the check, another accused, identified as Abdulla, a resident of Shivajinagar, too was arrested on Sunday. Abdulla had managed to enter the stadium with a colour photocopy of a ticket. He was sitting near the boundary rope and was watching the match when the survey team checked his ticket and found it to be fake,” the DCP added.
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