Bescom 'recruit' scammed with 'official' signature

Officials at a Bescom office on Crescent Road were left baffled on Monday after a man walked in with a fake order of appointment, all set to report for duty as a junior assistant.

They examined the order brought by the 29-year-old man from Hukkeri in Belagavi district — Vaibhav Venkatesh — and found that the official’s signature on the document was forged. The “order” was issued under the letterhead of the superintending engineer, along with the official’s signature and seal.

According to a complaint filed by K P Somashekar, assistant executive engineer at the Bescom West 4th sub-division, Anand Rao Circle, Venkatesh walked into the Bescom office around 12.45 pm and informed Basavanna, the superintendenting engineer, North Circle, that he was there to join work.

The letter also mentioned the details of Assistant Executive Engineer, Bescom W4, Vidhana Soudha Sub-Division, Crescent Road.

Venkatesh told the officials that a few persons known to him — Shivaprasad Vijayakumar Channanavar, his father Vijay Kumar Shivalingappa Channanavar, Pradeep, and Purushottam — had promised him a job in Bescom. They collected Rs 20 lakh from him, saying they needed to pay the money to the officials concerned to secure his job.

A few days later, they handed him the order copy and asked him to report for duty on May 22.

A senior police officer said an FIR has been registered against Venkatesh and the four men who allegedly cheated him, under IPC Sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery with the purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged documents as genuine), 473 (making or possessing a counterfeit seal), 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

Police have detained three persons for questioning. “There are cases against the accused in other police stations, the details of which are being verified. We are also checking if they have cheated other job aspirants.”

Initially, the gang contacted Venkatesh with the offer of a contract job and later, convinced him to pay them money for the permanent job.

The police are verifying who forged the official signature and are tracing the sources from where the accused obtained the official letterhead.