7 arrested in Bengaluru for cheating engineers after taking bribes for jobs: Police

The scam came to light after a 29-year-old from Belagavi arrived at the Bescom office to join as a junior engineer.

Exploiting the desperation of engineering graduates seeking government employment, the fraudsters claimed to have influential connections within Bescom and offered permanent positions for bribes ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 35 lakh. (FILE)

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Seven people have been arrested over a scam targeting jobseekers aspiring to become junior engineers or assistant executive engineers at the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom).

Police identified the arrested people as Prajwal D, Praveen M Somanakatti alias Balaraj, Pradeep K, S D Purushotham, Lohith B, Shivaprasad Channannavar and Vijayakumar Shivalingappa Channannavar on Monday.

Police believe Prajwal was the mastermind behind the scam and that his accomplices acted as middlemen to identify potential victims.

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The middlemen would get commissions from Prajwal for collecting money from the victims, according to police, who added that Prajwal would give the victims fake appointment letters.

The scam came to light after May 22, when Vaibhav Venkatesh Kulkarni, a 29-year-old from Hukkeri in Belagavi, arrived at the Bescom office on Crescent Road in Bengaluru to join as a junior engineer.

However, Bescom officials discovered that his appointment letter was forged. Assistant executive engineer K P Somashekar filed a complaint with the High Grounds police.

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Vaibhav told police that he had given Rs 20 lakh to the Channannavars.

Police also seized counterfeit seals, fabricated documents, educational certificates of job applicants, a laptop, a printer, a car, and Rs 5.5 lakh from the gang.

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