Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi
Udupi, Jul 10: The city police have registered two additional cases against Zeenath (41), who is already under arrest in an earlier cheating and blackmail case.
Following publicity about the case registered on July 2 (Crime No. 79/2026), another complainant from Manipal approached the police on July 8. He alleged that in 2020, Zeenath told him that she urgently needed Rs 50 lac and claimed that she was to receive a Rs 2-crore loan under a minority welfare scheme, promising to return his money and gold within a year. Acting on her assurances, he pledged about 148 grams of gold worth approximately Rs 22 lac with Sudheendra Finance during August and October 2020 and handed over Rs 4.36 lac to her. Geetha Rao was also allegedly present at the time. Zeenath is said to have paid the loan installments for about one and a half years before defaulting and failing to return the gold. The complainant further alleged that when he visited her residence, family members abused him and that Zeenath and her brother’s wife threatened to kill him if he approached the police. Police have registered Crime No. 86/2026 under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 352, 351(2) read with 3(5) of the BNS, and the investigation is in progress.
On the same day, another complainant from Bannanje in Udupi lodged a complaint stating that he had operated a Modicare stock point at Mahamaya Complex, Udupi, between 2018 and 2022, during which he became acquainted with Zeenath and Geetha Rao. He alleged that Zeenath recorded a video of him under the pretext of taking a selfie at the Modicare office and subsequently blackmailed him, threatening to make the video viral and file a rape case against him unless he paid her money. She allegedly collected Rs 36.84 lac from him in installments. The second accused, Geetha Rao, is also alleged to have blackmailed the complainant and obtained Rs 15 lac, besides taking gold ornaments and certain bank cheques. Based on the complaint, Crime No. 88/2026 has been registered under Sections 308(6), 318(4), and 3(5) of the BNS, and further investigation is underway.