Man arrested in overseas job racket case gets bail

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Friday granted bail to Patit Pulin Halder, who was arrested last year for his alleged involvement in an overseas job racket operated from the city, observing that his involvement in the case was limited.

While granting him bail, additional sessions court judge Rajesh Sasne said that the accused was only involved in obtaining the premises required to run their business, and his role was minimal.

The Mumbai crime branch had arrested Halder and his aides for duping hundreds of people after promising them jobs abroad. The gang ran their operation from an office called Bombay International Consultancy.

The incident came to light after the victims found that the visas were fake, and the agency avoided finishing the formalities required for securing jobs abroad in places like Azerbaijan, Oman, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Russia. The victims eventually found the agency office closed. During the investigation, the crime branch seized several passports and forged visas from the firm.

Requesting bail for Halder, his counsel submitted that he had undergone custodial interrogation and the investigation was over. The lawyer also submitted that one of the co-accused, Ashishkumar Mahato, has been released on bail as well.

The accused was arrested in December 2023 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including forgery and cheating, and under sections of the Indian Immigration Act, The Passport Act and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The other accused in the case are Ramkripal Ramsevak Kushwaha, 45, a resident of Bhiwandi, Rohit Maheshwar Prasad Sinha, 33, a resident of Mumbai, Ashish Kumar Mungeshwar Mahato, 30, a resident of Delhi, Amitosh Shravankumar Gupta, 40, from Lucknow, and Rahul Kumar Shivan Chaudhary, 22, a resident of Bihar.

The case was registered at the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg Police Station and was later transferred to the crime branch for investigation.