Cheating case:FIR against former IAS officer Sham Bhatt

The police registered an FIR against former IAS officer T Sham Bhatt and two others in connection with a cheating case.

Ravi D Channannavar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), said the FIR was registered following a complaint filed by Siddaiah, a former sub-inspector with the City Armed Reserve (CAR) force. The complainant alleged that Bhatt along with retired sub-inspector Pradeep, who was Siddaiah’s colleague at the CAR, and JD(S) leader Dhanraj had taken money to get his son a sub-inspector post in the excise department but cheated him. In his complaint, Siddaiah, a native of Tumakuru, stated that Pradeep promised to get a sub-inspector's job to his son and introduced him to Dhanraj in 2017.

Dhanraj, in turn, said that he knew Bhatt, who was then the chairman of the Karnataka Public Service Commission, very well and he will help his son get a job if he can arrange Rs 20 lakh. Believing him, Siddaiah paid Rs 10 lakh as advance. The accused told Siddaiah that that money had reached Bhatt and that his son’s job had been confirmed.

Siddaiah waited but the good news never came. His son’s name was not announced in the first list. When he enquired, he was told that it will be announced in the second list. But when his son’s name was missing from the second list, Siddaiah realised that he had been cheated.

When he demanded the return of the advance amount, the accused only paid him Rs 3 lakh. As the accused didn’t pay the rest of the amount, Siddaiah filed a complaint against all three. Bhatt was unavailable for comment.