BENGALURU: A man pretending to be an officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) allegedly duped five job aspirants of ₹17 lakh, promising them employment in the intelligence agency.  The victim, 49-year-old Sriramachandra, a former employee of the statistics department and a resident of Yelachenahalli, has approached the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police seeking action against the fraudster.   Bengaluru man compares Namma metro fare of Rs 180 to auto's Rs 210, sparks online debateAccording to Sriramachandra’s complaint, the accused identified himself as Venugopal Kulkarni. The complainant frequently visited a photocopy shop owned by Aravind in JP Nagar. In March 2024, Aravind told him that Venugopal had secured a job for his wife in RAW and that he needed help with some work in the revenue department.  A few days later, Sriramachandra met Venugopal at a hotel in JP Nagar. Venugopal introduced himself as a "special officer" working with RAW and even displayed what he claimed was an official agency ID. He further said there were several vacancies in RAW and that they were secretly recruiting candidates above the age of 18, reported TOI.Venugopal demanded ₹15 lakh per job, citing expenses related to travel and other formalities. Sriramachandra, wanting jobs for his two sons and three relatives, negotiated and agreed to pay ₹10 lakh for the three relatives and ₹7 lakh for his sons.  After receiving the payment, Venugopal issued ‘interview letters’ in May 2024, printed on what appeared to be RAW letterheads. Later, he met Sriramachandra at the city civil court premises and assured him that the jobs would be finalized without any interviews. He then handed over five appointment letters between August and September 2024.  To make the scam more convincing, Venugopal reportedly created a fake RAW portal and instructed the job seekers to register and mark their attendance online. He also told them they would start receiving salaries soon. However, after a month, no payments were credited to their accounts.   Heist in 10 minutes: Masked gang loots Rs 30 lakh from Bengaluru ATM, blacks out CCTV cameras to evade captureWhen Sriramachandra tried to contact Venugopal, all five of his mobile numbers were switched off. Later, Aravind informed him that he too had been deceived—Venugopal had issued a fake appointment letter for his wife as well.  Based on the complaint, a case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 318 (cheating), Section 319 (cheating by personation), Section 336 (forgery), and Section 340 (forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine).