Suspended GHMC staffer among 5 held for job racket

A job racket masterminded by a suspended GHMC bill collector, offering jobs in different departments of the State Government was busted by city police on Saturday.

Along with the suspended bill collector A. Vinay Kumar, four of his associates who helped in preparing fake appointment letters were also caught by the Commissioner's Task Force sleuths. Kumar was suspended in 2014 on the charge of issuing fake tax bills.

Following registration of a criminal case, he was arrested and remanded in judicial custody. On release from the prison, Kumar formed a gang which started luring the unemployed youth with job offers as record assistants, junior assistants and attenders in different government departments like irrigation, tourism and revenue.

"Using his familiarity with government administration, he used to drop names of top government officials to convince job aspirants that he was well connected to higher-ups," TF DCP B. Limba Reddy said.

He would collect money ranging from ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 as advance from each candidate. To lure the job aspirants, he engaged M. Suresh, Madhava Rao, Ch. Sudheer Kumar and Ch. Sridhar. "These agents would go to the houses of job seekers posing as government officials and ask questions about their antecedents to make them believe that the process of their appointment has begun," TF (Central) Inspector S. Srinivasa Rao, who caught the gang, said.

After conducting this 'verification', Kumar used to call the candidates for medical test and fitness certificate and demanded more money. With the help of rubber stamp makers, B. Krishnamurthy and Syed Nizam, he used to forge appointment letters.