E-Paper
BAMS doc fakes kidnapping over job racket, held in Gujarat
The man had allegedly collected money from several people by promising them govt jobs and providing forged appointment letters. When pressure mounted to return the money, he staged his own abduction and left for Gujarat, police said
Prefer HTon Google
LUCKNOW A phone call about two SUVs allegedly chasing a man and a suspected kidnapping case sent Lucknow police searching for the ‘victim’. The trail, however, led investigators to a hotel in Ahmedabad, where the man was found staying comfortably and allegedly trying to escape people demanding their money back after he failed to secure them government jobs.
The man, Satya Ratna Dixit, a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) doctor, according to DCP (north) Amit K Anand, had allegedly collected money from several people by promising them government jobs and providing forged appointment letters. When pressure mounted to return the money, he allegedly staged his own abduction and left for Gujarat, police said.
The case came to light on October 6, when Dixit’s wife, Shipra Yadav, approached Madiaon police after he went missing. According to her complaint, a man named Prakhar Pandey visited their house and claimed that Dixit had called from Hazratganj, saying two SUVs were following him. Another call subsequently claimed that he had been kidnapped.
Police registered an FIR under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and began investigating the alleged abduction.
The breakthrough came when the North Zone surveillance team traced a suspicious mobile number to Ahmedabad. A joint team of Madiaon police and surveillance personnel travelled to Gujarat and tracked Dixit to Hotel Shrimad, located on the fourth floor of Vitthal Mall.
Police said Dixit was found at the hotel and safely brought back to Lucknow for questioning.
“During interrogation, he allegedly told investigators that he had left Lucknow on October 5 and reached Ahmedabad on October 7. He had taken money from several people after promising to get them government jobs but was unable to arrange the appointments or repay them,” the DCP said.
The purported appointments allegedly covered posts in multiple government institutions and departments. Police said Dixit had called Prakhar Pandey to collect an appointment letter for the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), Amrita Rai for a post at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Praveen Kumar Rai for an LDA position and a person identified as Aditya for a job in the Public Works Department (PWD).
As several people began calling to demand refunds, Dixit allegedly feared that the matter would be exposed. Investigators said he then called the emergency response number 112 and claimed that two vehicles were following him.
He allegedly switched off his phone, parked his car near Purania crossing, travelled to Charbagh railway station and boarded the Sabarmati Express to Ahmedabad.
Police said their inquiry found no evidence that Dixit had been kidnapped or that another crime had been committed against him during the alleged disappearance.
On a complaint alleging that Dixit cheated people by taking money for government jobs and supplied forged appointment letters, Madiaon police registered another FIR under Sections 318(2), 319(2), 336(2), 338 and 340(2) of the BNS, covering cheating, impersonation and offences relating to forged documents.
Dixit has been arrested in the cheating and forgery case, police said. Further investigation is underway to establish the amount collected, the number of people allegedly duped and the extent of the use of forged appointment letters.
