Fraudster cheats 76 job aspirants of Rs 1 crore on promise of jobs in BEL

BENGALURU: A man claiming to be a Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) employee, offered jobs to aspirants, allegedly collecting Rs 1.5 lakh as advance from each aspirant, and conning them with  fake interview letters.

The fraudster claimed to be a JD(S) party worker and close to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.
Gangadharappa HM, 48, one among 15 who got cheated by the conman, named Nayaz Pasha, lodged a complaint with Jalahalli police. Gangadharappa is a JD(S) party worker. He stated that he knew the accused as he use to visit JD(S) office for last 10 years.

Pasha had disappeared for two years, and suddenly appeared at the JD(S) office one day. When Gangadarappa asked where he was all these days, Pasha told him he had got a job in BEL.

In January, 2017,Pasha contacted Gangadharappa and told him that BEL was recruiting people. “I told him my son had completed a Diploma in Mechanics and was looking for a job. He collected my son’s resume and said that shortlisted candidates names would be released by BEL. Pasha claimed he was very close to the MD and would confirm the job by paying Rs 5 lakh to the MD. Pasha asked us to pay Rs 1.5 lakh as advance,” Gangadharappa alleged.

“A week later, Pasha called me and said BEL needed 76 persons as welders and accountants. He asked me to get my friends to apply for jobs and that he would get them for the same price. He collected resume’s from them. In March, Pasha sent a WhatsApp list containing 76 names on a BEL letterhead and all of our names were in it.”

Meanwhile, a woman named Sultana, claiming to be BEL MD’s PA, called and asked them to pay Rs 1.5 lakh to Pasha’s account and the rest to be paid after the interview. They were told the amounts would be handed over to the MD.

A few months later, another letter was issued informing them that the interview was scheduled in November, 2018, later postponed to January 2019.  Not wanting to wait any longer, some of the job aspirants went to BEL to enquire, only to learn that neither Pasha nor Sultana were employees of BEL.
An investigating officer said, “We suspect Pasha has cheated all 76 people mentioned in the list and pocketed around Rs 1 crore. We are making efforts to nab him.”