Udupi: Teacher, accomplice arrested for allegedly extorting Rs 42.97 lakh after marriage proposal rejected
Mangalore Today News Network
Udupi, October 30, 2026: Udupi City Police have arrested two persons, including a schoolteacher, for allegedly blackmailing a man and extorting Rs 42.97 lakh from him after he rejected her marriage proposal.
The arrested have been identified as Nagarathna H (42), a native of Mayyadi in Yadtare, Byndoor taluk, currently residing at Basaveshwaranagar in Bengaluru, and Hemanth (41), a native of Miyar in Karkala, presently residing near Majestic in Bengaluru.
The complainant, Pradeep K, works at Nirman Vividhodesha Souharda Sahakari Sangha in Udupi and had been looking for a marriage alliance.
In January 2024, he came into contact with Nagarathna through the ’Kannada Jodi Matrimony’ app. She introduced herself as a Kannada teacher at S Kadambi Vidya Kendra in Basaveshwaranagar, Bengaluru, and said she hailed from Henberu, Badabettu, in Byndoor taluk.
Nagarathna proposed marriage to Pradeep, but he declined, stating that he wished to marry within his own caste.
Following his rejection, she allegedly continued contacting him through phone calls and messages, claiming to be facing serious personal and financial difficulties. She allegedly persuaded him to transfer money in instalments.
According to the complaint, the money was deposited into Nagarathna’s bank account and the accounts of her colleague Hemanth Karkera, her cousin Pramod and her elder sister Renuka.
Between January 2024 and January 2026, Pradeep allegedly transferred a total of Rs 42,97,350 to them.
When he subsequently demanded repayment, Nagarathna allegedly resorted to blackmail. She threatened to lodge a false police complaint accusing him of having an illicit relationship with her, visit his workplace in Udupi to publicly humiliate him before colleagues and customers, and ensure that he was sent to jail.
She also allegedly threatened to write a suicide note accusing him of misappropriating his organisation’s funds to cheat her and then set herself on fire.
Based on Pradeep’s complaint, Udupi City Police registered a case against Nagarathna, Hemanth Karkera, Pramod and Renuka on charges of cheating and extortion.
Under the guidance of City Police Inspector Mahesh Prasad, a special team was constituted, comprising Sub-Inspectors Bharatesh Kankanawadi and Rathnakar K, along with police personnel Prasanna C, Jeevan Kumar, Jagannath Naik, Hemanth Kumar and Savitha.
On October 26, the police arrested Nagarathna from Basaveshwaranagar and Hemanth from Kempegowda Bus Station in Bengaluru. They were subsequently produced before the investigating officer and a court, which remanded them to judicial custody.