Conman dupes tens, dies twice

Bengaluru: On March 27 this year, Kaushik Punita Sharma, 40, identified as a realtor, was found hanging in his Vakil Garden residence, Talaghattapura, south Bengaluru. The bodies of his wife Sreelatha, 36; son Kaustubh, 9; and daughter Sreeraksha, 11, were in different rooms. A message written in blood on the wall said Andhra cops had harassed him. When cops open lockers, they found only photocopies of Sharma and his wife's wills and other documents. His will claims the originals had been taken away by Andhra police. However, when the CID took over the probe, there was a twist in the tale. The investigators were mobbed by tens of people who said Sharma resembled someone who had cheated them of over Rs 100 crore. However, that person, Ponnaganti alias Satish Reddy, was reported dead a year ago. As police dug deeper, an amazing story of a swindler unfolded. On February 2, 2013, city newspapers published an obituary for Ponnaganti. The death certificate produced for publishing the obituary led sleuths to municipal authorities in Udayagiri, AP, who had issued it. Reddy and Sharma looked the same, except that the former had a stubble. Police then focused on Sharma and his wife's wills bequeathing property to the daughter of his twin brother. That young woman was none else, but the daughter of Reddy. However, the names though didn't gel: Sharma sounded Brahminical, while Reddy wasn't. During questioning, the girl admitted that the two men were the same. Also, his first wife, her mother, had died about 15 days after his death. Investigations revealed that in 1992-93, Reddy found an easy way of making money. He convinced people in Bengaluru to invest in banks in Zurich, Dubai and other places, promising them huge loans at low interest rates. "To get a loan, you need an account. So give me money to open it. I'll get you loan at cheaper interest rates from these banks and you put that money Indian banks which will give you at least 3-4% more interest. You'll be making profit without any risk," a victim quoted Reddy as having said. His business flourished until mid-2000, when his victims started pressuring him to return their money. To escape from them, Reddy started creating a second identity. He also got married. After obtaining documents to show himself as Sharma, Reddy killed himself through the obituary. For about a year, all his victims thought their money was lost forever, until Sharma's real death became public. One mystery solved, but it has opened a can of worms. To start, with police are yet to find out why Sharma and his family died. The long saga * Satish Reddy cheats people of crores of rupees between 1993 and 2013, promising them loans from banks in Zurich and Dubai * By mid-2000 pressure mounts from people who've given him money, so he begins to create a second identity * Feb 2, 2013: After creating a second identity (Sharma), Reddy gets an obituary published about his own death. * March 27, 2014: Sharma is founding hanging in his house, his wife & two children are also dead after consuming poison. -TOI