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Haryana Vidhan Sabha jobs: 1 held for issuing fake interview letters
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Haryana Vidhan Sabha speaker Gian Chand Gupta said during the recent recruitment drive, the assembly secretariat busted the gang involved in issuing bogus interview letters.
A 28-year-old Ambala resident has been arrested for allegedly issuing fake interview letters for jobs in Haryana Vidhan Sabha. Eight of his accomplices have also been identified. The accused has been identified as Jitender Singh, 28, who operates from an office in Sector-34, Chandigarh. He has been sent to eight-day police custody.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Haryana Vidhan Sabha speaker Gian Chand Gupta said during the recent recruitment drive, the assembly secretariat busted the gang involved in issuing bogus interview letters.
Gupta said a few months ago, the assembly secretariat had issued an advertisement inviting applications to fill posts of reporters (English and Hindi), junior scale stenographers, clerks, telephone attendant, telephone operator, Hindi typist, record restorer and watchmen.
“We have arrested the main accused in the case while the other accused have been identified. He was operating from a rented accommodation and had even prepared fake stamps,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Chandigarh.
Candidate spilled the beans
The matter came to light when a person identified as Neeraj, a resident of Pinjore, approached the Vidhan Sabha secretariat with a fake interview letter for the post of reporter, on October 17. As there was no interview scheduled for Sunday, he was asked to deposit all his documents and asked to come the next day. It was then found that the interview letter had a fake stamp, signature and roll number.
Gupta said the assembly secretariat staff then began a discreet inquiry in the matter. After Neeraj disclosed that the forged document was given by his relative, Jitender Singh, the latter was summoned to the Vidhan Sabha for inquiry.
Modus operandi
After issuing the fake interview letters to the candidates and charging them for it, the accused used to dissuade the candidates from appearing before the authorities on the grounds that the interview was deferred due to Covid-19 pandemic. The accused had prepared three fake identity cards and used to introduce himself either as a Haryana government employee or a PA of a minister.
Police said the accused, Jatinder, along with his associates identified as Nikhil Kumar, 30, from Ambala Cantt, Rajiv, 32, from Ambala, Amit, 30, from Yamunanagar, Neeraj alias Shanki, 29, from Naraingarh, Rambir alias Karan Naraingarh, Jasbir, 30, from Ambala Cantt, Rahul from Nariangarh and Sudesh, 47, from Yamunanagar, prepared forged documents including appointment letters, ID cards, roll numbers etc from their office in Sector 34, Chandigarh, where they have sublet cabins in the said SCO. He further said they have taken money from different candidates, who were to appear in different exams i.e. HSSC, police and other departments.
Haryana police personnel duped too
It came to the fore that the accused had not only extorted money from gullible candidates for appointment in Vidhan Sabha but also in Haryana police.
Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said when Jitender was summoned for questioning, he admitted before the authorities that he had been generating fake documents. Gupta said the accused had created fake documents for recruitment in police also and 50-odd admit cards of competitive exams being conducted by Haryana Staff Selection Commission HSSC.
Accused had multiple bank accounts
The accused used to charge a hefty amount in lieu of getting a government job for the candidates. The accused has six bank accounts and used to charge anywhere between ₹5 lakh to ₹21 lakh. He is believed to have duped about 13 people so far and accumulated nearly ₹75 lakh, which has been recovered.
Chandigarh police had registered an FIR on complaint of Sandeep Nandal Marshal, secretary, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, under sections 420, 467,468,471 and 120 B of IPC, in Sector-3 police on October 26.
