Farmer cheated of 30 lakh as middleman fails to get job for son

Mandya: A farmer has been cheated of Rs 30.25 lakh by a conman who promised a PSI's post for his son. The fraudster claimed that he was very close to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and B.Y. Vijayendra, State BJP vice president son of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

According to a police complaint lodged by Ningaraju, as native of Gaamanahalli in Srirangapatna taluk, the cheat Manjunath alias Akshay from Kolar promised the job in Police Department for his son Arun Kumar.

The farmer was introduced to Manjunath by a BJP leader, identified as Suresh Kumar from Channapatna. Suresh Kumar assured the farmer that Manjunath would secure a PSI job for Arun Kumar who had appeared for a physical fitness test conducted by the police department at Koramangala in Bengaluru.

Manjunath allegedly demanded Rs 40 lakh when Nagaraju met him at a five-star hotel in Bengaluru. Ningaraju, without hesitation, sold 1.5 acres of his two-acre agriculture land in the hope that his son would get a government job and lead a happy life.

He also raised a loan at a hefty interest to make up for the shortfall of the money he got from selling his land to pay the middleman. After handing over the money to Manjunath, Ningaraju promised to pay the balance amount of Rs 10 lakh once his son Arun Kumar received the appointment letter.

When the results were announced, to his dismay, Ningaraju did not find his son's name in the PSI recruitment list. He called Manjunath demanding refund of the money. When Manjunath did not return the money, a desperate Ningaraju met Mandya SP Yathish and lodged a complaint.

SP Yathish told reporters that since the CID is probing the PSI recruitment scam, he has to seek an opinion from the probe agency whether it would take over the case or the Mandya Police could conduct an investigation. Based on the clarification, the case will either be transferred to CID or an FIR will be registered in Mandya district, he added.