Conman posing as GBA RFO cheats Forest Department official of ₹1.6 lakh

On October 25, while he was on duty near HSR Layout at around 10.30 a.m., he received a call from an unidentified person. The caller introduced himself as Puneeth Gowda, an RFO with the GBA. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

A conman posing as a Range Forest Officer (RFO) of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) allegedly cheated a Forest Department official of ₹1.6 lakh by promising to arrange a car under a government scheme.

According to a complaint filed at the South-East CEN police station on October 26, the complainant, Manjunath P., works in the GBA Forest Department’s Bommanahalli division.

On October 25, while he was on duty near HSR Layout at around 10.30 a.m., he received a call from an unidentified person. The caller introduced himself as Puneeth Gowda, an RFO with the GBA.

The accused subsequently sent application forms for various government schemes through WhatsApp and claimed he could get a car sanctioned for the complainant. He promised to provide the car sanction order by that evening.

The accused repeatedly insisted that money had to be paid to process the sanction. Trusting the caller, the complainant scanned several QR codes sent through WhatsApp and transferred a total of ₹1.6 lakh from his bank accounts.

After realising he had been cheated, he approached the South-East CEN police and sought action to recover the money and trace the accused.

Published - October 28, 2026 07:10 pm IST