Four fall prey to job fraud, lose ₹20 lakh, three vehicles

Four friends in the city lost ₹20 lakh, a motorcycle and two cars after they were allegedly duped by three conmen who promised to get them jobs at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, said police on Wednesday.

Police said the four men, all residents of Nai Basti in Sector-8, were provided with fake joining letters, verification documents and even identity cards.

Hitesh Rai, one of the first to be duped by the suspects, said in the FIR that he came in contact with the main suspect, who wanted to purchase plots in Nai Basti, through a friend.

During the meeting, the suspect asked Rai if he wanted a job in AIIMS Delhi and expressed interest in helping him as his father and brother were already working there and had helped several people in getting jobs at the country’s premier hospital.

Investigators said after he was convinced, Rai paid ₹1.5 lakh in cash and another ₹2 lakh via e-wallet. He spread the word among his three friends--Vikram Chauhan, Ajay Kumar and Vijay Kumar--who evinced interest in getting jobs at AIIMS as they were unemployed. Chauhan later ₹1 lakh in cash and ₹3.5 lakh via e-wallet while Ajay and Vijay Kumar, both of whom are brothers, paid ₹12 lakh in cash.

Police said while Rai was given an appointment letter for the role of a data entry operator, the other three were given joining documents for the post of laboratory attendants.

Inspector Dinkar Kumar, station house officer of New Colony police station, where an FIR has been registered, said the transactions have been going on over the last six months.

“The fraudsters had asked for a hefty sum. When the men expressed their inability to pay, the suspects suggested them to hand over their vehicles,” said Kumar. While Rai gave away his Royal Enfield motorcycle, Chauhan handed over his Hyundai i10 car while the two brothers lost their Volkswagen Polo car to the fraudsters, said police.

The cheating came to light when all the four victims reached AIIMS Delhi in the last week of June to assume charge. Police said one of the conmen also accompanied them to the hospital and asked them to wait outside while he himself went inside the building and vanished.

According to police, all the four waited for long but when no one approached them, they went inside the administrative office to contact the hospital authorities.They were shocked when the officials saw their appointment letters and informed them that the documents were forged and that they had fallen prey to a job fraud, said police.

After failing to contact the fraudsters, Rai finally approached police on June 29 and submitted a written complaint on the basis of which an FIR under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using forged documents or electronic record at genuine) of the IPC was registered after an initial inquiry at the New Colony police station on Tuesday night, said police. Police said all the allegations were found to be true during the course of the inquiry.

“We have identified the suspects, who conned the four men. They will soon be arrested,” said the SHO.