The Bommanahalli police have arrested a 45-year-old fortune-teller for allegedly robbing 115 grams of gold valuables from a homemaker on the pretext of performing puja for her well-being in March last year.

The accused B.M. Venkataramana was caught moving suspiciously in the same area recently looking for a target when the beat police on suspicion detained him for questioning.

A detailed questioning led him to allegedly confess following which the police recovered gold valuables worth ₹8 lakhs which he had pawned in a gold shop in Chintamani. With his arrest, the police also solved a house break theft reported last year and recovered 20 grams of gold valuables from him.

Inspector Pritham A.D. said that the accused approached the homemaker claiming that someone had performed black magic on her and assured to ward off evil through a special puja.

The accused asked her to put all her gold valuables in an earthen pot and later diverted her attention and handed over a similar pot covered with vermilion, turmeric, and rice grains. The accused told her to keep the pot near the safe for a few hours before the god’s portrait and escaped.

The victim followed the instructions and opened the pot to see the valuables missing. She filed a complaint with the police and the police alerted the beat police to keep a lookout for the suspect before he was picked up near Bommanahalli bus stand.