The State Crime Branch, Haryana, has busted an inter-state racket involved in duping individuals aspiring for government jobs and arrested five persons in this connection.

The racket targeted job seekers across multiple states, promising them positions in various government departments including the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Army, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP),Border Security Force (BSF), Central Public Works Department (CPWD), among others.

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The gang used to issue fake appointment letters, conduct bogus training programs and provide fabricated government department identity cards to job seekers.

A Haryana Police spokesperson said that three residents of Bhiwani, Ravindra, Vikram, and Pradeep, had lodged a complaint with the district police. They had applied for the position of godown attendant in the FCI and were deceived into providing a security deposit in order to secure the job. The accused had obtained Rs 5.5 lakh rupees from each complainant, amounting to a total of Rs 16.5 lakh.

According to the complainant, the victims were issued fake appointment letters, identity cards and underwent training in Ferozepur, Punjab. They were made to work under the guise of training for a duration of three months, with promises of prompt job placement. No salary was, however, provided to the complainants during this period.

After several days passed without any job postings or salary disbursements, the victims reported the incident to the police and the State Crime Branch was entrusted with the responsibility of investigating the matter in February 2023. Of the five persons arrested in this case, two are from Uttar Pradesh, two from Delhi, and one from Haryana.

The police spokesperson said the primary masterminds behind the operation are Deepak Rathi, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, and Vishnu Chauhan, a resident of Katesara, Rohtak, Haryana.

The third accused Rahul, a resident of Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, used to act as a broker and prepare counterfeit documents. The two other accused arrested by the SIT include Vimal Kumar, a resident of New Delhi and Mohammad Shoaib, a resident of Shastri Nagar, Delhi.

The spokesperson said the accused have a history of committing fraud by promising government jobs in multiple states including Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. Fake stamps, paid letters, and forged signatures were found stored in a pen drive and a computer recovered from the accused which were instrumental in convincing the victims they had secured a job.

“The accused also had access to a link and an email ID associated with a website resembling the official portal of the Food Corporation of India. Through this platform, they would send counterfeit appointment letters to their victims,” the spokesperson said.

The ADGP, State Crime Branch, OP Singh advised government sector job aspirants to be cautious and avoid paying anyone for job opportunities.