Bengaluru: Gang cheats govt job aspirants of Rs 1.5 crore

Four men have allegedly cheated job aspirants of Rs 1.5 crore by assuring them government jobs such as First Division Assistant (FDA), Second Division Assistant (SDA), Assistant Engineer (AE), and Junior Engineer (JE).

Businessman Sharanappa Kotikhani, 49, a resident of Shahapur taluk in Yadgir who played a middleman's role between the job aspirants and the accused persons, filed a complaint with the Subramanyanagar Police against Lokesh, Abhiram, Mahesh, and Mahadesh, all four residents of Bengaluru.

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According to Kotikhani, he was introduced to the accused by one of his friends, Ravi S Tabaz. The accused claimed to know officials who evaluate the answer papers of examinations for government jobs and told Kotikhani that the aspirants could land the jobs.

They managed to gain Kotikhani's confidence and asked him to refer the job aspirants. Kotikhani was told that the aspirants needed to pay Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for the jobs.

Kotikhani contacted around 20 youths who had appeared for the exams and informed them about the group. The aspirants paid money to Kotikhani, and the same amount was paid to the accused in June 2021.

Kotikhani told the police that he met the accused in a hotel on Dr Rajkumar Road in Rajajinagar and paid them a total of Rs 1.84 crore. The names of the aspirants who paid money to Kotikhani were not in the first list released after a couple of months. When Kotikhani inquired about it with Lokesh, he said their names would be announced in the second list and collected another Rs 15 lakh from him.

After a few days, Lokesh met Kotikhani and gave him some documents claiming that the 20 aspirants had been selected and police verification was in progress. However, the aspirants' names were not announced in the second list either. So, Kotikhani asked the accused persons to return the money. After much persuasion, they gave him Rs 35 lakh and are due to return Rs 1.49 crore.

They have not returned the remaining amount for the last two years. Kotikhani met the accused in Rajajinagar on June 28 and demanded his money. When they were engaged in an altercation, patrolling police arrived at the spot and took them to the police station, where Kotikhani filed the complaint. A case of cheating has been registered.