RPF constable booked for cheating job seeker

The father-daughter duo gave a lift to Rane and while travelling, they spoke about getting Jagdale’s daughter a job in a government office. Rane then informed Jagdale that his son Santosh Rane was a constable with the RPF and had helped many people to secure a job in the railways

Mumbai: A constable working with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was booked by the Dahisar police for allegedly cheating a retired insurance agent to the tune of ₹3 lakh by promising his 32-year-old daughter a job as a clerk in the railways.

On January 20, the duo called Shraddha again to the CSMT station to begin her training in the department but never showed up. Jagdale then called the duo but none of them responded to the calls,” said a police officer from Dahisar police station (HT Photo)

According to the complainant, Pandurang Jagdale (68), a Dahisar resident, in May 2022 he was travelling along with his daughter to his village in Dapoli in Ratnagiri district when he met his friend Babu Rane on the way.

The father-daughter duo gave a lift to Rane and while travelling, they spoke about getting Jagdale’s daughter a job in a government office. Rane then informed Jagdale that his son Santosh Rane was a constable with the RPF and had helped many people to secure a job in the railways.

Jagdale told the police that through Rane, he contacted Santosh. After telling Santosh that he wanted a job for his daughter, Santosh informed him that his contact in the department was a ticket checker and was instrumental in getting many people a job in the Railways.

Santosh then connected Jagdale with the ticket checker Kailash Avghade who told him that it would cost him ₹5 lakh to get a confirmed position. “I told Avghade that I did not have that much money and so he agreed to secure a job for my daughter on payment of ₹3 lakh,” said Jagdale.

The police officers said that from August 2022 to January 2023 Jagdale paid the two. On January 12 the duo called Jagdale and his daughter Shraddha to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to sign a railway bond after which they told them that Shraddha had been appointed as a clerk in the ticketing department of the railways.

“On January 20, the duo called Shraddha again to the CSMT station to begin her training in the department but never showed up. Jagdale then called the duo but none of them responded to the calls,” said a police officer from Dahisar police station.

Realising that he was cheated, Jagdale approached the police and complained. “We are now trying to trace the accused and find out if they were running a job racket,” said the officer.