Tata Consultancy Services

Parappana Agrahara jail

Gokulnath Partiban

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Kamal Haasan

Shriya Saran

techie

An interior designer sensed something was amiss when she kept getting movie offers. With police help, she lured him all the way from Chennai(TCS) employee from Chennai is cooling his heels inhere after a young city-based interior designer he tried to lure with promises of stardom saw through his con, but decided to play along, ultimately ensuring he got trapped in his own snare.Accused, who is a married man, had set up an elaborate ruse. The IT engineer first created a fakeaccount in the name of Sangeeta Mohan and tried to befriend the interior designer, Khushi (name changed), by posing as a successful model and director. He even claimed to have links with Kollywood bigwigs likeandKhushi, who runs her own firm, is part of a car pool group on FB. She says she started getting posts from Sangeeta Mohan in November 2013, suggesting a career in films. “Initially, I deleted these posts, but Sangeeta Mohan relentlessly pursued me, even coaxing me to come to Chennai for a photo shoot.” Khushi says Sangeeta was persistent, saying it was easy to get a break in films, if she “compromised” a bit with the producers.“In December, I got a call from a person who identified himself as Gautam from Chennai. He told me he had been interacting with me over Facebook in the name of Sangeeta Mohan. He said I stood a great chance to become a star, and dropped names like Kamal Haasan and Shriya Saran. He also boasted association with big banners like 24 Frames and Base Films,” Khushi, who has filed an FIR with the police, told Bangalore Mirror.Khushi says Gautam’s call rang a bell as she recollected how a friend had got cheated in similar circumstances. “Thinking it was the same person, I resolved to expose him. I engaged in conversation with him and evinced an interest in film offers.”Acting on her suspicion that Gautam was probably a serial conman, the gutsy woman then got in touch with joint commissioner of police (Crime), Hemanth Nimbalkar, and explained the situation. “He advised me to keep chatting with him and record all the conversations. Gautam, meanwhile, was insisting I go to Chennai, a risk I didn’t want to take. I told him he could come down to Bangalore and do the shoot.”In February, Gautam agreed to come to Bangalore, and told Khushi to book a room for him and bear his travel expenses. “He asked me to come to his hotel room with western and traditional clothes. He also told me I should be willing to satisfy him sexually for just one day,” says Khushi.Gautam arrived on February 22 and called Khushi to the upscale hotel she had earlier booked. She did as bid, keeping the cops in the loop all along. They had advised her to give them a call if something went wrong. Gautam first took pictures of her in traditional clothes. He then asked her to change into Western wear and pose in a provocative manner. “He tried coming close to me and undressing me. He himself had already undressed, so I told him I needed to use the toilet. Once inside, I called the police who were waiting outside. He was caught along with a camera and laptop,” says Khushi.During interrogation, Gautam revealed his true identity as Gokulnath Partiban, an employee of TCS in Chennai. An IT engineer from Anna University, Partiban is around 30 years old. Deputy commissioner of police (Crime), Abhishek Goyal, told Bangalore Mirror he seems to have played dirty with four other girls too.Commenting on the whole episode, Nimbalkar appreciated Khushi for her role in exposing the pervert conman. “He had told her to pose for him through Skype, but we advised her against it. Instead, she asked him to come here,” said Nimbalkar.PervertGokulnath Partiban has been charged under sections 354A and 354B of the IPC which relate to any man demanding unwelcome sexual favours. If guilty, he is liable to be punished with a jail term of not less than three years and extending up to seven years, along with fine. He has also been charged under section 66 (A) of the Information Technology Act, which could attract a jail term of three years along with penalty, if found guilty.