Job fraud: 10-member gang abducts man who cheated them, arrested

Bengaluru: A former Bescom contract worker was abducted by a 10-member gang, who he had allegedly cheated promising jobs.  Police tracked down the gang within 24 hours after receiving a complaint on the 112 helpline. 

A member of the group lured Praveen Somanakatte, who previously worked for Bescom, to a private hotel for a discussion about their financial dispute. 

At the hotel room, Somanakatte found six people waiting, including Venkatesh, the person who called him. All of them asked Somanakatte to repay their money.

Somanakatte told them he did not have the big sum with him. He assured them that he would borrow money from a friend and make the payment. 

The group then bundled Somanakatte and his friend Vignesh into a car and drove towards Malavalli. When the car approached the toll gate, Somanakatte and Vignesh protested and tried to escape. While Vignesh fled, the gang thrashed Somanakatte and forced him back into the car. Vignesh immediately dialled 112 and informed the police about the abduction. 

In their operations, police arrested Naveen Raj, Srikanth, Purushottam, Sridhar, Lohith Gowda, and Ravikumar from Hassan; Bharath and Ramesh from Bengaluru; Venkatesh from Tumakuru; and Srinivasamurthy from Ramanagara. 

Police said Somanakatte was named in a cheating case filed at the High Grounds police station in May. Using his job as a Bescom contract worker, Somanakatte promised to get them jobs, collected money and disappeared, a police officer close to the investigations said.

“They were all furious and vowed to get their money back. When Praveen Somanakatte agreed to repay Venkatesh and meet him, the others tagged along. When Somanakatte tried to escape, they all took him to Hassan where three more people joined in and they went to Kodagu,” the officer added.