'Operation Lotus' kingpin wanted in Rs 3 cr cheating case, lookout notice issued

Bengaluru: City police have issued a global lookout notice against a man accused in a Rs 3 crore cheating and forgery case last year.

The notice was issued against Uday Gowda, a realtor, in connection with the case registered in 2017.

Gowda was recently accused by the JD(S) of trying to lure a party MLA to join the BJP.

“Yes, we have issued a global lookout notice against Uday Gowda. We did that a week ago. He is accused of cheating and forgery,” the station house officer (SHO) of Cubbon Park police station told PTI.

Gowda’s house in Malleswaram and the residences of his associates were raided a fortnight ago. However, he managed to escape.

The police suspect he might be holed up in some south Asian countries, based on which the global lookout notice has been issued.

“There is nothing unusual in issuing such notices. These are just standard practices we follow,” a senior police officer said.

The case pertains to sale of a property on the posh Brigade Road by Gowda, who allegedly created a forged document and sold it to a man.

The complainant, Ayaz, later lodged a police complaint on coming to know from registration department officials that the document was forged.

Gowda’s name had surfaced recently when Sakleshpur JD(S) MLA H K Kumaraswamy’s wife Chanchala alleged that he had approached her with a proposal, asking her to persuade her husband to move to the BJP as he would get him a plum post and Rs 30 crore in cash.

The issue had triggered heated arguments between chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his BJP counterparts.