Agent cheats Malad man by offering job in Turkey, booked

An agent has been booked by Nerul police for cheating a 22-year-old Malad resident, who was looking to join the merchant navy, under the pretext of giving him a

An agent has been booked by Nerul police for cheating a 22-year-old Malad resident, who was looking to join the merchant navy, under the pretext of giving him a job at a shipping company but later asking him to work as a waiter. The accused also cheated the complainant, Shubham Sharma, of ₹2.24 lakh.

HT Image

According to the complaint, Sharma had completed a six-month course from a marine officer training academy in Puducherry and approached the accused, Kailash Chandra Sharma, who claimed to be an agent and promised to provide jobs in merchant navy, in February 2019. Kailash told Sharma there was a vacancy at a ship in Istanbul, Turkey and booked his flight ticket and charged him for the fare. A few days later, Kailash told Sharma the ship he was supposed to work at had broken down but another ship would arrive later, due to which they have to book another ticket, and charged Sharma again.

Later, Sharma paid Kailash ₹1.6 lakh before flying to Turkey on February 5, 2019 where he was supposed to meet an agent named Behzad. However, upon reaching, Behzad asked Sharma if he would work as a waiter. When Sharma enquired about it, Kailash said the ship had already set sail and demanded ₹20,00 to look for another job.

“Sharma collectively paid Kailash ₹2.24 lakh. When he asked Behzad to look at his documents, he learnt there was no such shipping firm in Istanbul. When Sharma returned to India and visited Kailash’s shop, it was shut and he learnt Kailash has cheated others too,” said an officer from Nerul police station.

The police have registered a case of cheating following a preliminary inquiry.