THE KING OF CON

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF AN ORDINARY MAN WHO DECEIVED POLITICIANS AND BUSINESSMEN, LIVED THE HIGH LIFE AND LAVISHED AND WOOED ACTRESSES WITH THE Rs 500 CRORE LOOT

- KAUSHIK DEKA with MUNISH CHANDRA PANDEY

NOTHING ABOUT HIS APPEAR­ ANCE INVITES YOU to cast a second glance at Sukash Chandrashekhar. Ordinary of build, average in height—5 feet, 9 inches —the 33-year-old looks a regular guy. When in school in Bengaluru, his friends teased him as Karia—the Kannada word for black—for his dark complexion. There is nothing flashy about his clothes either; he would mostly be found in denims with a tee. He has four fingers missing on his left hand. Nobody knows how he lost them—in an accident or if someone chopped them off. But you don’t get to see the hand—he always keeps it hidden in his trouser pocket.

What you cannot miss, though, is his right hand, sporting some of the world’s most expensive watches. Or the cars he drives—a fleet of topend marques, among them Rolls Royce, Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche. At last count, he had 85 watches worth Rs 18 crore and 54 cars worth more than Rs 35 crore in his possession. However, what makes this seemingly ordinary man extraordinary is the fact that he came to acquire these prized possessions allegedly by pulling some of the most elaborate cons in Indian history.