Bengaluru: The Yeshwanthpura police have arrested a 45-year-old man for sedating his victims by offering sweets laced with sedatives and later molesting them and stealing valuables from their houses. The accused has been identified as Gnanaprakash alias Prakasha, a resident of Nagenehalli Dinne in HAL. The accused has been operating for the last one and half years and several victims are not forthcoming to register complaints, police said.

Prakasha used to strike new acquaintances from existing family members, relatives, and friends contacts over phone. After getting friendly with them he used to visit their houses in the afternoons under the pretext of distributing invitations. He prefers afternoons as there was less chance of male members being present at home. He used to offer them sweets laced with sedatives, claiming he got a promotion in his job. Once the victim got sedated, the accused used to molest them and decamp with gold ornaments from their houses.

The arrest was made based on a complaint received by the Yeshwanthpura police from a 45-year-old woman, a resident of Mathikere. The complainant, Sharmila (name changed), had alleged that “On May 5, I was at home and one person who identified himself as Prakasha had called on my phone. He referred the name of one of my old friends and wanted to visit me to give away an invitation for the naming ceremony of his sister’s daughter. He asked for my address and I gave it unsuspectingly.”

Around 12 noon, Prakasha came home along with invitations and sweets and said his sister is on the way. He told Sharmila that he had just got a promotion and offered the mother and her daughter cakes. The cakes were laced with sedatives. “After eating the cake I remember going to the bedroom and slept off only to wake up in a hospital,” Sharmila told in her complaint to the police. When Sharmila came back home, she found that her gold ornaments were missing from home and lodged a police complaint.

The police traced Prakasha’s call detail records and arrested him from Yeshwanthpura on Thursday. They have recovered 100 grams of gold, four mobile phones and Rs 4 lakh in cash from the accused. “He has confessed that he had molested and robbed victims from various areas such as Maalur, Nelamangala, Madivala, Bommanahalli, Yeshwantapura and Kadugodi,” said a senior police officer. In one incident in Madivala, he molested and robbed a woman while both she and her husband were sedated by his sweets,” said an investigating officer. Most of the victims were not forthcoming to lodge complaint against the accused fearing social stigma.

As of now there are three complaints lodged against the accused in different stations. “As the victims were not conscious at the time of crime and fearing damage to their reputations, no mention of molestations were made in the complaints and the accused was booked only for causing hurt by means of poisoning with intent to commit an offence, theft and other related charges,” the officer added.

The accused used to procure a sedative called Larpose 2mg from a local chemist in HAL using prescriptions, said the police.