A 44-year-old woman has lodged a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police alleging that a man cheated her of ₹1.5 lakh after being promised help to secure ₹9 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund towards her late mother’s medical expenses.

The complainant said her mother underwent surgery for gangrene at a private hospital in Udupi in October 2025. However, she later died after the treatment proved unsuccessful.

According to the complaint, she approached an acquaintance named Manjunath to enquire about obtaining financial assistance from the CM Relief Fund. Manjunath allegedly introduced her to Venkata Reddy, who claimed to work at Vidhana Soudha.

Reddy allegedly told her that he could arrange ₹9 lakh from the CM Relief Fund out of the total ₹12 lakh medical expenses she had spent. He allegedly demanded ₹1.5 lakh as commission and promised to get the relief sanctioned within 53 days.

Trusting him, she allegedly paid ₹ 1.5 lakh.

However, despite collecting the money and taking copies of medical bills and other documents, Reddy allegedly failed to arrange the promised relief even after several months.

Based on her complaint, the Vidhana Soudha police have initiated action against Venkata Reddy on allegations of cheating, intimidation and taking money by promising to facilitate sanction of funds from the CM Relief Fund. Further investigation is underway.