Chandigarh: Fake contractor, supervisor held for duping 400 workers of ₹4 crore
The accused have been identified as Simal Khairwal of Jhampur, Mohali, who allegedly ran a company by the name, ‘Ultimate Manpower Housekeeping’, and Rohit of Bhasker Colony, Sector 25, who claimed to be a supervisor.
A fake contractor and his supervisor were arrested for allegedly duping around 400 cleanliness workers of ₹4 crores on the pretext of providing them jobs as staffers in the Chandigarh municipal corporation.
The accused have been identified as Simal Khairwal of Jhampur, Mohali, who allegedly ran a company by the name, ‘Ultimate Manpower Housekeeping’, and Rohit of Bhasker Colony, Sector 25, who claimed to be a supervisor.
As per the complainant, Sumit Kumar of Maloya, Chandigarh, Sumit had told him that his company had a contract with the MC for cleaning parks. He was then asked to pay ₹1 lakh to secure a job with a monthly salary of ₹16,500. Kumar said he saw other employees of the same company working nearby, so he was convinced of securing the job and took a loan of ₹1 lakh to pay Simal. Simal then demanded another ₹1 lakh and promised to start his duty the next day at Mandi ground. Kumar alleged that he did not receive any salary and later found that the accused had duped many others like him.
The accused, Khairwal, had allegedly coerced several job seekers into paying anywhere between ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh over the last one year, thus accumulating several crores.
The workers said that after being recruited, they were paid salaries only sporadically over the past six months.
Police arrested the duo from Bhasker Colony, Sector 25. They also seized an Accent car, an XUV 500, a Swift Maruti car, a Bullet motorcycle, two properties (one in Sector 52 worth ₹18 lakh and another in Shahi Enclave, Jhampur worth ₹18 lakh), and ₹1 lakh in cash from Khairwal. From Rohit, they seized a Verna car, a 50-gram gold kada, a 20-gram gold chain with a locket, ₹2.015 lakh in cash, a house purchased with cheated money worth ₹17 lakh in Jhampur, and 50 grams of gold kept in Mathood Finance, Sector 37.
The duo has been booked under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Maloya police station.
Will take strict action if any MC official’s role is found: Mayor
According to MC officials, the accused had deployed these people for various tasks, including the cleanliness of parks, roads, and other buildings. “The accused deployed these people in areas which are not under the MC’s jurisdiction, like EWS colonies in Maloya, Dhanas, and other places, so that MC employees couldn’t find them. These people were also given uniforms with the company’s name ‘Ultimate Manpower Housekeeping’. However, neither the MC nor the UT had given any contract for cleanliness or sanitation,” an official said.
Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor said, “I held a meeting with the aggrieved persons today and found that they have been duped. No contract has been given by the MC. We will investigate the matter thoroughly, and if any MC employee is found to be involved or aware of this scam, strict action will be taken.”
Previous cases of fraud
This is the third such case that has come to fore this month.
· May 1: Rajiv Kumar, a resident of Ramdarbar, masqueraded as an NGO representative under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, promising to provide cleaners to 10 schools in Chandigarh. Initially, cleaners were paid a meager sum of ₹10,000 per month but were later left unpaid. Kumar allegedly duped approximately 100 individuals of an estimated ₹50-60 lakh.
· May 15: The Vigilance Cell of Chandigarh detained two individuals from Gurgaon-based manpower agency for extorting money from outsourced workers of the MC in exchange of extending their period of service. The bribery and extortion racket was operated within the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) located in Sector-17. The manpower agency allegedly extorted ₹3.90 lakh from contractual workers.
