The police have booked a man from Vashi-based Dhitech consultancy for cheating a civil engineer from Gujarat by promising him a job in Russia.
The complainant, Mehul Padavi (36), worked at a construction firm in Surat. Having worked as civil engineer in Oman and Africa earlier, he was looking for a job abroad. During his search, Mr. Padavi came across Dhitech Consultancy’s Facebook page, and mailed his biodata to the given email address on July 31.
He received a reply from the consultancy on August 13, stating that he could appear for an interview on August 14, 16 or 18. Mr. Padavi went for the interview on August 16 and Rahul Mishra, in-charge of the agency, collected his passport, and told him he would get a call in two days.
Since he did not receive any call, Mr. Padavi visited the office again on August 19, where Mr. Mishra told him that he had been selected for a job in Russia. He also asked him to undergo a medical examination at a laboratory in Kurla, and told him the visa would arrive in 15 days.
On August 31, Mr. Mishra sent Mr. Padavi PDF file of the Visa confirmation on WhatsApp, and asked him to pay ₹60,000. Mr. Padavi transferred ₹40,000 into Mr. Mishra’s account the next day, and the rest on September 3, after receiving a photo of the air ticket to Russia, dated September 17.
On September 14, Mr. Mishra told the complainant that the tickets had been cancelled and another date of travel would be informed. However, since there was no further communication, Mr. Padavi demanded his passport and money back on September 27. Mr. Mishra returned the passport and a cheque dated October 7, which bounced.
On Thursday, Mr. Padavi registered a case of cheating against Mr. Mishra with Vashi police. “Few more complainants have approached us with similar complaints against the agency and we are investigating it further. No arrests have been made yet,” senior police inspector Anil Deshmukh said.
