The arrest of two more persons in connection with a job scam in Muvattupuzha is expected to lead to the receipt of more complaints from across the State.
The scam was exposed when the Muvattupuzha police arrested one Shaji, 54, of Rajakkad in Idukki for cheating many job aspirants by luring them with the promise of largely unskilled jobs in Poland in August. He allegedly used a home nursing firm, Adona, in Muvattupuzha as a cover for the recruitment scam.
“The scam got under way in 2019 and since then we have registered 10 complaints while one case each has been registered in Perumbavoor and Piravom police stations. The victims are spread across the State and we are expecting more complaints in the coming days,” said Muvattupuzha sub-inspector V.K. Sasikumar.
Aneesh, 40, of Idukki, and Sanishmon Daniel, 37, of Ilamdesham, who were arrested on Thursday, were allegedly the main accomplices of Shaji and have been arraigned as second and third accused. Both were under surveillance and were picked up from their respective places after gathering enough evidence about their links to the scam.
"They were instrumental in luring job aspirants with job offers in Poland through social media. They feigned to be candidates themselves who were about to fly to Poland so as to win the trust of their targets. Victims paid between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.50 lakh for largely unskilled jobs like salesman, supermarket staff, etc. in Poland,” said Mr. Sasikumar.
The funds so collected were transferred to the account of Shaji and were later shared between the accused.
The police suspect that more people would have fallen for the offers and would have paid even more though many of them may be reluctant to admit it in the open. “We are probing the possibility of more people being cheated by the fraudsters,” said K. Karthik, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural).
The police have moved the court for the custody of the two accused arrested on Thursday while the first accused was released on bail earlier this week.
“We will have to interrogate them in custody for collecting further evidence. Besides, we will have to find how they spent the money and how much of it could be recovered,” said Mr. Sasikumar.
