400 international job-seekers duped of crores, three frauds held

The fraud came to light when the job-seekers, who reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday

Mumbai: More than 400 job-seekers were duped of crores of rupees by fraud recruitment agents based in Bhayander East who promised the aspirants in securing well-paid jobs in South Africa and Middle Eastern countries. The police arrested the three agents on Saturday, identified as Sahil Shaikh, Nasarullah Ahmed Shaikh and Suruchi Madmera, after some of the victims gathered outside their agency— Eagle Placement Services — after they realised, they had been cheated.

400 international job-seekers duped of crores, three frauds held

The fraud came to light when the job-seekers, who reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday to fly to their respective destinations, were told by the authorities that their tickets were invalid and that the agents already claimed a refund. In addition to this, the agents who promised to meet the job-seekers at the airport, to hand out their passports with valid visas did not turn up. The victims then approached the Navghar police and filed a cheating complaint against the agents.

According to the police officer, one of the victims, identified as Pawan Naseeb Singh, 38, from Sujanpur in Punjab, said that he was a JCB operator there and in January 2024 he was approached by the agents with a lucrative job offer for him in South Africa.

Singh was told to come to Mumbai and submit his passport and other identity documents for a visa and air ticket. Last week, Singh received a call that his visa had arrived and his ticket had been booked, for which he had to pay ₹79,000.

As Singh sent them the online payment, they asked him to come to Mumbai airport where he would be given his passport and air ticket. The agents had allegedly sent him documents, including an offer letter, a visa copy and an online ticket. “Everything looked original, so I trusted them and reached the Mumbai airport to board the flight. I met several people there who were travelling with me through the same agency,” said Singh.

When the agent did not arrive with their passports, the men enquired at the ticket counter and learnt that the tickets which had been booked in their names had been refunded. The men then went to the agency office in Bhayander East which was locked.

“I had enquired with the adjacent shops but none of them told me that the agency was new,’ said Singh.

The aspirants then realised that they had been duped after which they approached the Navghar police and registered a case under sections 420 (cheating) and 419 (impersonation) of the Indian Penal Code.

“We have arrested three men and are investigating the case to find out how many more men have been cheated by the Eagle Placement Services agency,” said a police officer from Navghar police station.