2 held for duping people by 'offering' officer jobs

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have arrested two individuals accused of defrauding people by offering them positions as intelligence special officers in India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). The arrested are Venugopal and Arvind. Counterfeit letterheads, appointment letters, identification cards, and seals have been seized from their possession, the police said. The suspects, who impersonated Intelligence Special Officers of the R&AW, falsely claimed to oversee the Bengaluru city office.

They solicited lakhs of rupees from victims by asserting their authority to recruit personnel for the agency. Subsequently, they deceived these individuals by providing them with fraudulent appointment letters, leading them to believe their employment was confirmed, said the police. A resident of JP Nagar, who was cheated by the accused, lodged a complaint with the CCB. Following an investigation by the CCB's Special Investigation Team, Venugopal was arrested in Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently, Arvind, a resident of the 9th block of Jayanagar, was also taken into custody. Arvind, who operated a Xerox and stationery shop, had initially ignored a summons to appear for questioning.

He was later apprehended. The investigation revealed that the accused had defrauded approximately 30 job seekers with their false promises. Police said that they seized 86 letterheads bearing the R&AW name, identity cards, six service books, counterfeit appointment letters, and nine seals from a lodge in Gandhinagar, where the primary suspect, Venugopal, was residing. Additionally, a colour printer and a laptop were confiscated from the suspects' office located in Supreme Layout, Yelahanka.