Bengaluru: The roadside parrot astrologer who allegedly cheated an income tax officer on the pretext of performing special rituals to improve his personal life and career has landed in police custody. The accused has been identified as Shekar, 59, a native of Periyakulam in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district. TOI was the first to report on the incident on March 10. A senior officer said Shekar cheated the I-T officer of gold and silver ornaments worth over Rs 31 lakh, and Rs 50,000 in cash, between Dec 25, 2025 and March 4, 2026. Ramesh (name changed), working as an administrative officer at the I-T department’s Koramangala office, filed a complaint on March 5. In Dec 2025, when Ramesh was passing through Shree Circle on St John’s Road in Bharathinagar, Shekar, who was sitting by the roadside, introduced himself as a parrot astrologer and claimed he could predict the future by looking at a person’s face. Ramesh asked him to read his horoscope. Shekar told him that he was facing a new problem and collected Rs 50,000 to perform a special puja.Days later, Shekar claimed that a bigger and more powerful ritual was required for better career prospects, promotions, and overall prosperity. Though Ramesh initially refused, the man allegedly continued to call him almost every day, pressuring and even threatening him that his life would face difficulties if the ritual was not performed. Ramesh later approached Shekar about his transfer proposal pending in the office. Shekar then collected 194 grams of gold and 1.3kg of silver ornaments, promising to return them after performing the puja. However, he allegedly cheated him. Police said efforts are on to recover the ornaments.
