EOW arrests Bihar man for Rs 3.5 crore interstate job fraud

Bhubaneswar: The economic offences wing (EOW) of the state crime branch on Monday arrested a Bihar native from Delhi for allegedly duping job aspirants in Odisha and several other states of about Rs 3.5 crore in 2023.The accused, Gautam Kumar, 45, hails from Dumaria Parbatta village in Bihar’s Khagaria district. Employed in a private company in Delhi, Kumar was arrested from Rohini area of the national capital.Police officers said that Kumar is part of a larger interstate racket. Three of his associates — Dharampal Singh, Amit Singh and Jairam Tiwari, all from Bihar — were arrested by the EOW in 2023. A cheating case was registered against the gang on Jan 25, 2023, after they published fake advertisements in Odisha newspapers, luring jobseekers with promises of govt employment.“The gang created a fraudulent website (www.grks.org) by floating a sham firm under the name Gramin Rojgar Kalyan Sansthan (GRKS). They projected it as a govt organisation. Through advertisements in multiple languages in 10 states, they invited applications for posts such as district and block coordinators, computer operators and block surveyors, prescribing qualifications and offering attractive remuneration,” said SP of EOW, Dilip Tripathy.

Applicants were asked to apply online by paying fees — Rs 170 for SC/ST candidates and Rs 320 for general category aspirants. The gang expanded its operations across 10 states, publishing advertisements in regional dailies that closely resembled official govt notifications.“Lakhs of unemployed youths across the country applied for these posts from 2020 onwards, paying the required fees. Though examinations were conducted, no appointments were ever made,” Tripathy said.Investigations revealed that the gang misappropriated application fees amounting to Rs 3.48 crore. Kumar, who was on the run for two years, was booked under a non-bailable warrant. He allegedly posed as a skill developer, claiming he would train new recruits.Further probe showed that Kumar received Rs 69.2 lakh from the account of GRKS through the bank accounts of his two companies and a trust. The entire amount was misappropriated by the accused.