Nine persons who were arrested from Balasore district on Sunday were part of a major inter-state job fraud racket that used to target aspirants of various recruitment examinations. The modus operandi of the gang members was to contact aspirants just a day before any major recruitment examination by assuring them to provide question papers in lieu of money.
Police sources said the nine arrested accused mostly belong from three states- Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. After contacting the aspirants, the gang members used to take them to various hotels by buses. The aspirants were specifically told not to bring mobile phones, said Balasore SP Sagarika Nath while briefing the media.
The gang was busted hours before the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination. Nath, however, clarified that no question paper leak took place.
“We had intelligence input regarding the possibility of a job fraud and subsequently a joint task force was constituted and the nine accused were nabbed. We had also rescued 88 applicants from the spot,” said Nath.
How The Gang Operated?
Whenever there was a big recruitment examination, the racketeers would contact aspirants by assuring them that they would provide question papers and take them to hotels the previous night in buses. The gang used to take original certificates from the aspirants. Depending on the type of examination, the gang used to take blank cheques from the applicants to the tune of Rs 8 to Rs 16 lakh.
The gang used to return the original certificates after a candidate got selected for a job. Similarly, they also used to withdraw cash using the blank cheques collected from the applicants.
Seizure
Original certificates of applicants, Rs 22500 cash, one bus, three cars, signed blank cheques and 15 mobile phones have been seized.