New Delhi: Delhi Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested the lynchpin of a railway recruitment racket through which several unemployed youths were allegedly duped of lakhs of rupees on the false promise that they would be hired as ticket collectors with Northern Railway.
The accused, identified as one Santosh Giri alias Baba, was arrested following a tip-off on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
According to police, Giri's gang ran a fake website which looked similar to that of the Railway Recruitment Board and had even set up a fake training centre inside a Railway Colony in Kolkata where some of their unsuspecting victims were given training to lure more youths into falling for the scam.
"The website was used to convince the victims of their selection. They had issued fake I-cards, appointment letters and even salary memos. In a few cases, they even gave salaries," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing), BK Singh.
EOW was investigating the case after a joint complaint was registered in this regard by nine victims of the alleged scam.
Among these nine is one Mukesh Kumar, who claimed that his father had come to know that some persons had landed TC jobs under the MRQ Quota in Kolkata and were undergoing training there.
Mukesh said that his father Zile Singh along with one Ram Karan and five other candidates went to Kolkata and met Giri, who demanded Rs five lakh from each candidate for arranging jobs for them. Giri demanded half the amount at the time of the candidates' medical test and the remaining half upon display of their names on the website.
"Later on, his associates Sunil and Komal met them and filled their forms and their medical was also done. Thereafter, Giri informed them that their names were out on the website and asked them to come with the money for training at Kolkata. Thus he was paid Rs five lakh per head," said Singh.
Giri and his associates provided the victims with MRQ ID cards and sent them for training. They were assured that their names had been enrolled in the recruitment panel board and the joining letter would be delivered to their home. But the letters never came.
During the investigation, it was found that the main
suspect, Giri, had accounts in different banks in which part payment was received from various candidates. It also came to light that he had used fake voter ID cards to open the bank accounts.
Giri received huge amounts in the name of his associates and acquaintances and raids were conducted at various places in West Bengal and Bihar, including Kolkata, Patna, Hajipur, etc. To apprehend him, but he managed to evade arrest.
"Accordingly, the process for declaration as proclaimed offender was initiated against him. It was also found that the gang had created a fake Internet site similar to that of the Railway Recruitment Board on which they used to display the details of the victims to convince them of their selection. They had issued fake ID cards, appointment letters and even salary memos," said Singh.
In a few cases, they even handed out salaries. The victims were made to undergo training at a fake centre established inside a Railway Colony in Kolkata.
Police said that Giri studied up to Std 12 in Hajipur, Bihar. He did his graduation in science from Muzzafarpur University in 2007. He also got an MBA degree via correspondence.
