BENGALURU: Central Crime Branch sleuths arrested a 39-year-old man, who used to be a land surveyor, on the charge of cheating people after promising to get them government jobs.
The accused, Raghavendra BG alias Raghav, is a resident of JP Nagar and native of Kundapur, Udupi.
He claimed to be ‘deputy development commissioner’ with ‘Government of India-Survey of India’ and even showed his victims an ID card with designation. According to police sources, the licence plates of his two cars also had GOI logo.
His victims filed cheating cases in Bengaluru (JP Nagar and Yeshwantpur), Haveri, Karwar, Bagalkot and other places. “Raghavendra took at least Rs 10 lakh from each victim along with two blank cheques and an empty bond paper signed by them. He claimed the cheques were necessary to open salary account while the bond paper was needed for filing an affidavit in the victim’s name when the job was ready,” an investigating officer said.
Filed cheque-bounce cases to silence victims
The victims, after waiting for long and realising Raghavendra had cheated them, called him asking for their money back.
When Raghavendra sensed they were about to approach police, he deposited one of the cheques with a large sum to ensure it would bounce. Then, seeking an advocate’s help, he filed a cheque-bounce case against the victim. On the empty bond paper, he would mention that the victim had taken a loan of Rs 20 lakh from him.
“These tactics almost succeeded in stopping many victims from filing police complaints. However, a few did so even after Raghavendra filed cheque-bounce cases,” the officer said. “Till now, he is understood to have duped around 30 persons. We suspect there are more victims and request them to contact police.”
