Mumbai: The Vile Parle police have busted an online job racket with the arrest of five people in Delhi. Eight women, who had made the phone calls to the victims, have been served notices seeking an explanation for their role.
Anil Kumbhare, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone VIII, said, “The accused were running a ‘call-centre’to dupe job seekers, who posted their resumes online. About 13 mobile phones, three debit cards, and hard discs were seized.”
The accused would contact victims on phone promising a job in airlines and coaxed them into giving money as fees. After taking the money, they used to stop communicating with the victims. “An inquiry is on to find out if the eight women were involved in the crime,” said Mr. Kumbhare.
The arrested accused have been identified as Pankaj Kumar Ravikumar Handa, Sanjeev Brijmohan Gard, Abhishek Jagdish Prasad, Ajaykumar Jagdish Prasad and Suman Saurabh Kumar Mayyan Singh.
One of the accused was arrested by the Hyderabad Cyber police in a similar cheating case. All of the accused were produced before a local court and remanded in police custody till August 19.
Sources in the police department said all the accused are professional cheaters and their bank statements show that small amounts of ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 have been deposited by different people. “We will have to find out how many people they have duped, and if any of the victims has filed an FIR,” said Mr. Kumbhare.
The matter came to light when one of the victims approached the Vile Parle police earlier this year alleging that the accused had cheated him of ₹3 lakh promising him a job in an airline.
The complainant, Dhawal Patil, said, “I had posted my resume on Shine.com, a job portal. I had received a call from this gang, claiming that I had bagged a job in an airline. After paying the fees, the accused lured me with new offers, job position, and salary package. I had paid around ₹3 lakh in 10 instalments. They even mailed me an appointment letter on the airline letter head. They asked me to join in May, but later asked not to join as my joining date has been extended. Later, they stopped taking my calls, which triggered suspicion.”
