Bengaluru, Nov 17 (IANS): The Bengaluru police on Monday busted a fake inter-state employment agency racket allegedly run by a five-member Andhra Pradesh gang.

The police said the gang is said to have duped more than 500 unemployed mid-level techies by charging heavy "fees" from them and giving fake offer/employment letters.

The modus operandi of the gang was to target those who have lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic and assure them a decent job.

The Andhra gang surreptitiously operated in Bengaluru where many techies had been rendered jobless during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The police said they used to identify their targets after scanning through scores of biodatas updated on employment portals like Naukari.com.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Sai Kalyan Ram (33), Gatala Dilip Kumar (22), Viswanth (28), Sridhar Kollur (36) and Pattishiva (26).

K.S. Nagaraj, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sampigehalli sub-division, said that the gang hired a cubicle from one of the rent-a-work platforms in Bengaluru to set up a fake company in the name of H.R. India Services Private Limited on the upscale Infantry Road locality.

"Impressed by their office and behaviour, many not only fell for their machinations, but also recommended their friends and relatives. After impressing them in their office, another set of their members used to call for interviews in the Embassy Manyata Tech Park, one of the most sought after working destinations for techies in the city," the ACP said.

The ACP added that the members used to take rigorous interviews and after hard bargains, the gang used to give them offer letters against a hefty charge.

"Their theatrics before giving the offer letter used to impress many, who used to transfer money immediately," the officer said.

He added that once money was transferred, they used to flee and the aspirants never got the job. Nearly 500 techies had file a complaint with the police around two months back.