Bangalore : The Jayanagar police on Monday said that they have arrested the person who had allegedly stolen three ATM cards of former national athlete Ashwini Nachappa and withdrawn Rs 2.4 lakh recently.

The police arrested Ravi Dasashetty, 44, a native of T Narsipur town in Mysore district, and recovered Rs 1.97 lakh in cash from him.

A resident of Yaraganahalli in Mysore city, Ravi had spent nearly Rs 43,000 of the cash he had withdrawn on horse racing and lost it, police said.

Ravi stole Ashwini’s wallet from her handbag kept on a chair at Kittur Rani Chennamma stadium in Jayanagar II Block when she was hoisting the flag of a sports meet organised by Fame India, School for Special Children, on December 3.

There was a piece of paper inside the wallet containing the PIN numbers of all the three ATM cards – of Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. He used the cards in Karnataka Bank ATM kiosk at Jayanagar IV Block and YES Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI ATM kiosks at Jayanagar III Block, and withdrew Rs 2.4 lakh, police said.

The police collected information about the suspect in Bangalore and Mysore and arrested him at T Narsipur.

Ravi had earlier worked as a booking agent for private buses in T Narsipur. He was into various forms of gambling such as single-digit lottery and horse racing.

He spent whatever little money he earned on gambling and lost it. In order to sustain his disastrous habit, he would often obtain loans from various sources but frequently lost the money to gambling. As a last resort, he took to crime, police said.

Gambling addict

Ravi used to make a list of high-profile events, parties and weddings after learning about them from newspapers.

Often posing as a journalist or a high-profile person, he attended such events. He used to make away with gifts presented to newlywed couples at marriage halls. He used the money to place bets on horses during races, police said.

Repeat offender

He had committed such crimes at Ravindra Kalakshetra, Town Hall, Chitrakala Parishat, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Seva Sadan in Bangalore; Sandesh Palace in Mysore and marriage halls in Girinagar, High Grounds, S J Park, Malleswaram, Cubbon Park, Jayanagar in Bangalore and Nazarbad in Mysore and Nanjangud town.

He always occupied seats in the front row to help get a clear picture of the gifts and the places where they were kept.

He stole a cover containing Rs 1.5 lakh during a wedding at a convention hall in Jayanagar in June, police said.