Chandigarh: JE arrested in ₹4 crore job scam targeting cleanliness workers

The main accused, 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 the company’s supervisor, were arrested on Tuesday

In the latest development in the case involving ₹4-crore fraud with 400 cleanliness workers, the Chandigarh Police arrested a junior engineer (JE) of the UT horticulture department.

The arrested JE, identified as Manohar Lal, was posted in Sector 23 and was responsible for the maintenance of parks in Dhanas and Maloya. (iStock)

The main accused, 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 the company’s supervisor, were arrested on Tuesday.

Khairwal had allegedly coerced several job seekers into paying between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh since November last year, accumulating several crores.

The arrested JE, identified as Manohar Lal, was posted in Sector 23 and was responsible for the maintenance of parks in Dhanas and Maloya.

Investigations revealed that Lal allowed the cleanliness workers employed by the fake contractor to work in the parks under his jurisdiction.

These workers were tasked with cleaning the parks and roads. Call records retrieved by the police show that Lal was in regular contact with Khairwal. It was also revealed that Lal sought favours from Kairwal and allegedly took ₹40,000 in cash from him. He was produced before the court on Thursday and sent to one-day police custody.

The fake contractor, on the pretext of providing the cleanliness workers permanent jobs as sanitation workers with MC, used to deploy them in EWS colonies—Mauli Jagran, Maloya, Dhanas and Sector 56.

The EWS colonies don’t come under the MC limits and hence the workers remained undetected.