Man who pretended to be BDA official all his life jumps to death

Bengaluru: A 60-year-old man accused of cheating people by impersonating an official of Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) committed suicide in Vidyaranyapura here by jumping off his apartment balcony.

The deceased was identified as Siddalingaswamy (60), a resident of Hanumantha Nagar. An investigation officer said that the deceased had pretended to be a government official for the last several decades and even his wife and daughter believed him. "He would leave home like any other government official and he used to wait at BDA premises for gullible investors. He used to impersonate as BDA official and gather information and collect money from them promising allotment of new site or exchanging site on of BDA layouts," the police office said.

The accused was arrested on February 24 and charged with duping several people by luring them to allot a site in Bengaluru. The court had granted police the custody of the man on February 25.

According to the police statement, Siddalingaswamy used to visit the BDA head office every day in search of gullible investors by posing as an official of the authority. He gathered information about prospective investors and collect money from them in lieu of allotment of a new site or exchanging sites of BDA layouts."

The police records claim that the accused was taken to his flat to conduct a detailed search, where he jumped from the building. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The police recovered fake letterheads, stamp papers, seals and other materials that are needed to allot BDA sites.