Actress Radhika under CCB lens for receiving Rs 75 lakh from cheat

Bengaluru: Sandalwood actress and producer Radhika Kumaraswamy on Wednesday came under the lens of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for allegedly receiving Rs 75 lakh from a 52-year-old man, named Yuvaraj, who allegedly posed as a powerful functionary of RSS and duped government job aspirants by collecting huge sums of money.

The actress clarified that Yuvaraj was very well known to her as an astrologer through her father and agreed to do a historical movie in Kannada. She further said Yuvaraj's wife was closely associated with the film industry and admitted receiving only Rs 15 lakh through his account. She, however, pleaded ignorance of who deposited Rs 60 lakh in her account.

Reacting to the controversy at her house at Dollars Colony in Bengaluru, Radhika Kumaraswamy said, "Yuvaraj is a friend whom my father and I have known for over 17 years. He is an astrologer and a well-wisher of our family. Whatever prophecies he has made, have all come true in our family's case. Yuvaraj also owns a production house and has talked about producing a historical movie. In that connection, he had transferred Rs 15 lakh to me and the remaining Rs 60 lakh was received from a person whom Yuvaraj had introduced as his brother-in-law. This apart, it has nothing to do with the politics or contesting of elections."

According to CCB official sources, the disputed amount of Rs 75 lakh was transferred to Radhika Kumaraswamy account between February and March last year. It's learnt that the actress did not raise the topic of the film due to the Covid-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown. Apart from Radhika, Yuvaraj was in contact with at least seven actors from Sandalwood and CCB has already interrogated Radhika's brother.

"Yuvaraj predicted my father's death, my life and career. After my father's death, he again came in contact with our family and discussed producing a historical movie. It was in that backdrop that Rs 15 lakh was transferred to my account. Also, none of us had any agreement on the movie or transfer of cash" Radhika further said adding she asked him for the details about the producer, Yuvaraj had told her that the movie was being produced by his brother-in-law and hence she should not bother about the agreement.

In response to a question, Radhika said that she was not the only person who fell for his ploys but several VIPs too fell for his dubious personality. "How can I know that person who predicted several good things about our family, could do such a thing. I was not aware of any of his deeds. Our connections with him were limited to astrology and films not beyond that," she said and added quickly that was not her relative.

She added that their conversations never went beyond films and fixing muhruts (auspicious time) to start any good work. "Almost every day he used to change his WhatsApp DP, in which either he was seen giving a bouquet or being felicitated by some VIP. So, I never suspected him or his intentions at all," she explained.

She added that her family came to know him through her father about 17 or 18 years ago and he called her sometime early last year, when she was in Delhi for work. "I received a call from him and he also met me in Delhi there itself on the pretext of meeting us after my father's death in 2019. He came to us and met us in Delhi. After this, he asked me if she was interested in acting in movies, to which I said, she would act if she got a good offer and a script," she said.

She asserted that she will cooperate with the police as and when they summoned her.

In 2010, Radhika had hit the headlines when she declared that she was married to former Karnataka chief minister, H. D. Kumaraswamy in 2006 and had a daughter.

On December 17, based on a complaint Bengaluru's Central Crime Branch arrested Yuvaraj for allegedly cheating government job aspirants by convincing them of his "strong political connections".

The CCB sleuths arrested him, a resident of Nagarabhavi and seized 100 cheques for Rs 91 crore from his residence.

After his arrest, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil told reporters that a complaint was given by a person who had given Yuvaraj Swamy Rs 1 crore after the accused had promised him a tender for a project.

The CCB chief said that Yuvraj had allegedly taken Rs 10 crore from an educationist-turned politician from north Karnataka by promising him to help procure a ticket to contest the upcoming Belagavi by-elections.