The accused told the complainant that the government is sanctioning taxis for unemployed persons under Sarathi scheme, and one such taxi was sanctioned but could not be delivered since the beneficiary failed to pay the required amount.
| Photo Credit: Illustration by Satheesh Vellinezhi
The Central division cyber crime police are on the lookout for a man who, posing as a BBMP revenue officer, allegedly duped a man of ₹1.15 lakh promising a taxi under a scheme of the government of Karnataka.
Based on a complaint filed by Sandeep Kamalnath from Seshadripuram in Bengaluru, police registered a case of cheating and under various sections of the IT Act on November 15.
According to the complainant, the accused approached him on phone on October 18, introduced himself ‘Punith Gowda, Revenue Officer from the welfare department of the BBMP’.
He informed that the government is sanctioning taxis for unemployed persons under Sarathi scheme and one such taxi was sanctioned but could not be delivered since the beneficiary failed to pay the required amount. He asked whether Sandeep would be interested to own the taxi after paying the amount.
Sandeep readily agreed. He transferred ₹25,000 online as registration fee to the account number mentioned by Punith Gowda.
The accused asked some documents from Sandeep to make him believe that the process of registration had started. In the meantime, he messaged Sandeep to pay the insurance, transfer and other fees.
After the money was transferred online by scanning a QR code, the accused switched off his phone.
After repeated attempts to contact him, Sandeep approached the police.
Published – November 17, 2025 01:42 pm IST
