Fake Nijukti Mela: Odisha youth tricked by overseas job promise

Three persons accused of conning several job seekers with false promises of employment opportunities in Israel were arrested in Bhubaneswar on Monday. The fraudsters allegedly demanded sums ranging from Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh from each hopeful applicant.

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A fake Nijukti Mela (Job Fair) was conducted at the Raj Inn hotel in Bhubaneswar’s Master Canteen locality, where youths from Odisha were coaxed into providing these payments for foreign job placements.

It has come to light that some job aspirants initially paid Rs 70,000 as a down payment. The local police were alerted after the Labour Commission received a complaint. Subsequently, an official report was filed at Kharavel Nagar Police Station, which led to the apprehension of three suspects with residential ties to Mumbai.

How the crime came to the fore?

According to official sources, on April 20 (yesterday), acting on a complaint by Sunil Kumar Saha, Protector of Emigrants, Bhubaneswar (Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India), a case was registered regarding an illegal interview being conducted in a hotel under Kharavel Nagar PS  for alleged recruitment to various posts in Israel.

A detailed investigation revealed that the accused individuals had widely circulated fake advertisements on social media and used forged documents resembling official notifications from Ministry of Labour & Employment to mislead job seekers. They had collected Rs 5,000 in advance and said that they would collect Rs 70,000 upon issuing offer letters.

It was ascertained that the accused were neither authorised by the Ministry of External Affairs nor by any registered recruitment agency. Swift police action led to the apprehension of three accused. This action prevented a huge loss of money for the job seekers.

A Kharavel Nagar Police Station case (No-178, Dated 20.04.2025 under Sections 61(2)/ 54/ 336(3)/ 340(2)/ 319(2)/ 318(4)/ 62/ 143(3)/ 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) r/w Section 24 of the Emigration Act, 1983) has been registered in this connection.

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Police have seized resumes of several candidates, some forged documents, and four mobile phones from the possession of the accused persons.