Saraikela (Jharkhand), Aug 28 (IANS) A fake job racket has been busted in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district, where more than 200 unemployed youths were allegedly cheated with false promises of employment, officials said on Thursday.
Four people have been taken into custody after they were caught by villagers and handed over to police in Chandil’s Kapali outpost.
According to police, the accused had been running a fake company in the Tamolia area of Chandil for the past several weeks. They allegedly lured youths from different states by promising them jobs in their firm and charged between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 as recruitment fees.
Victims were reportedly taken to different locations in the name of product promotion but were neither given regular salaries nor provided with genuine work.
The matter came to light on Thursday morning when several cheated youths approached local villagers for help.
The villagers then apprehended four supervisors of the company, questioned them, and handed them over to the police.
Kapali OP in-charge Dhirendra Kumar said the accused are being interrogated and further investigation is underway.
Preliminary inquiry has revealed that the mastermind of the fraud network is Inamul Haq, a resident of Lakhisarai district in Bihar.
Police suspect the gang has duped hundreds of youths in Jharkhand and other states.
Victims have alleged that when they demanded a refund of their money, they were threatened with dire consequences.
The arrests triggered tension in the locality, with a large number of people gathering at the spot. They alleged that such fraudulent activities are on the rise due to the problem of unemployment and urged authorities to take strict action.
Police said efforts are being made to trace the other members of the gang and ascertain the exact number of victims.
“A detailed probe is in progress. Strict legal action will be taken against all those found guilty,” an officer said.
The incident comes a day after Jamshedpur police exposed a similar fraud in which four persons were arrested and sent to jail.
–IANS
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