Job racket busted, 4 held

Police have arrested four men who demanded money from job aspirants promising them the post of sub-inspectors. Rs 17 lakh in cash, five cellphones and a high-end car have been seized from the suspects.

The SP, K T Balakrishna, told reporters on Friday that Sharanappa of Kuntoji village in HD Kote taluk (Mysuru district) had demanded Rs 35 lakh from Mallappa of Sindhanur (Raichur district) to get him the PSI’s job.

He repeatedly called Mallappa demanding Rs 15 lakh as advance. Mallappa grew suspicious and lodged a complaint. The police went to Bengaluru with Sharanappa to meet Dattatreya and Ramdas, the “middlemen,” on the pretext of paying money. All the three fell into the police trap.

The middlemen told the police they got Rs nine lakh from Basavaraj Shasappa Hoogar and Rs eight lakh from Chandsab Yalagara promising them the said job. Both took the competitive examination for the recruitment. The duo claimed they had handed over the money to S V Venkatesh, a so-called social worker from Bengaluru. He has been arrested.