BENGALURU: A woman, an alleged habitual offender who cheated men under the guise of getting them jobs, including in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after collecting huge amounts of money, was denied anticipatory bail by a city court as custodial interrogation is required.
Among three cases registered in three different districts, the latest is against accused Vinutha ME, a resident of Govindarajanagar, for allegedly cheating a man after collecting Rs 1.03 crore by promising to get him a graphic designer’s job in ISRO.
“As per notice, the petitioner was required to appear before the investigation officer (IO) on May 9. The petitioner was served notice for appearance, which she has not complied with. It is worthwhile to mention Section 35(4) of BNSS, which states that when such a notice is issued to any person, it shall be the duty of that person to comply with the notice. But the petitioner appears not to have complied. Under these circumstances, this court is of the firm opinion that the petitioner is not entitled to anticipatory bail,” said Jayaprakash A, Judge, 66th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court.
The court said the IO’s report indicates that fake appointment letters created by the petitioner in the name of ISRO have to be recovered from her. It also indicates that the petitioner is involved in similar cases registered in Kollegal police station and the Chikkamagaluru town police station, which shows she is a habitual offender. Under these circumstances, if she is released on bail, there are chances of her committing similar offences, and also of her absconding, which disentitles her from obtaining anticipatory bail, the court said.
According to complainant Sanjay N, he had rented out the ground floor of his house in Laggere to the accused. In August 2024, the accused came to his residence at Nagarabhavi and convinced him to get a graphic designer’s job at ISRO, and took Rs 37 lakh from him. She also got a fitness certificate from Victoria Hospital, but he did not receive any appointment order.
When questioned, she stated that the appointment order had been dispatched on November 5, 2024, but he has to pay an additional amount of Rs 23 lakh by way of cash. If he does not pay it, he will not be able to get back the amount paid earlier.
The accused also took Sanjay to ISRO, and had him introduced to Supratho Patho, Reddappa, Rajendra AK and Anil Kumar, and they demanded that he pay the amount. Believing he would get the job, he paid up Rs 23 lakh. Over time, Sanjay paid a total of Rs 1.03 crore in installments but the accused failed to get the job or repay the money.
The complainant then registered a case against Prabhakar, Vinutha ME and others in the first week of May.