Bengaluru cop cheats woman of over ₹ 1 crore promising govt jobs for her two sons

A cop in Bengaluru has been suspended and police have launched a manhunt to nab him for allegedly duping a woman of over ₹ one crore on the pretext of providing government jobs to her two sons, officials said on Oct 20.

The accused – Prashanth Kumar – a head constable – with the City Armed Reserve (CAR) police in Bengaluru, who was also working as a driver for Additional Director General of Police Umesh Kumar claimed to the woman that he knew Karnataka Public Service Commission officers and would fetch jobs for her sons in lieu of money, according to her.

Bhagya, 54, a resident of Annapoorneshwari Nagar, in her written complaint filed at Nandini Layout police station, recently said that Kumar received 857 grams of gold ornaments worth ₹ 60 lakh and ₹ 47 lakh in cash from her between November 2021 and June this year.

She said that the accused claimed that he would fetch First Division Assistant (FDA) jobs for her two sons – aged 36 and 30. She alleged that Kumar and his two associates collected money from her several times and also the gold ornaments.

On June 12 this year, Kumar reportedly visited Bhagya’s house, claiming that both her children had been selected for government jobs, and showed a purported selection list of candidates. He again collected ₹ 5 lakh from her.

However, when Bhagya cross-checked and contacted the Karnataka Public Service Commission, she found that her children’s names were not on the selection list. When she asked Kumar to return the money he had taken from her, she was given a ₹ 58 lakh cheque that bounced when presented in the bank, according to the complaint.

After she contacted him again, Prashanth allegedly refused to return the money and abused her.

Upon this, Bhagya filed a complaint on September 21 this year and a case was registered under the sections of the Indian Penal Code. The police served notice to the accused Kumar and suspended him after he failed to respond to it.

A senior police officer was quoted as saying on Oct 20 that they have formed teams and launched a manhunt to arrest Kumar and his associates.