3 held for duping 140 persons on pretext of govt jobs

With the arrest of three persons, Delhi Police on Saturday claimed to have busted a gang of cheats, which had allegedly duped around 140 persons to the tune of crores on the pretext of recruitment at various central government departments.

The gang members have been identified as Vinod Kumar, Asim Khan and Manish Verma, police said.

Kumar is believed to be the kingpin of the gang and he is a close associate of Israel Ahmed, who was arrested by CBI in connection with the mobile tower scam and is presently lodged in a jail. Under Ahmed’s guidance, Kumar teamed up with Khan and later roped in Verma into the gang, said DCP (South) Prem Nath.

According to the police, the activities of the gang came to light during the investigation of a case registered on September 5 last year. In the concerned case, the complainant was duped of more than a lakh on the pretext of a field officer’s job in Bhartiya Van Vibhag.

When the complainant went for an interview scheduled at a prominent hotel in Ghaziabad, he saw 26 others lined up for the same. He was informed about his selection and sent appointment letter and identity card allegedly forged by the accused persons.

When they delayed the process of sending the joining letter, demanding a final instalment of Rs 50,000, the complainant approached the police.

Based on a tip-off, the police arrested the first accused on October 17 and the other arrests followed. Later, it also came to light that the accused had also advertised about the fake recruitment at Maharashtra through local dailies and Kumar’s wife, Rashmi, also played an active role in the gang.

During interrogation it also emerged that the gang had booked a hall in southwest Delhi, where they had allegedly duped around 140 persons on the pretext of jobs in government departments and most of the interviews were allegedly arranged by Ahmed, who is in jail.

The accused have been booked for cheating, forgery and other relevant sections of law. Investigation is underway and more arrests are likely, said Prem Nath.