Railways job scam: EOW arrests man from Greater Noida

Police said the members of the gang issued fake appointment letters to the candidates, conducted their medical examinations and organised a three-month long job training in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun to make the entire selection procedure look genuine.

The Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested a 43-year-old man from Greater Noida last week, for his alleged involvement in a job scam, in which he and his associates allegedly duped more than 40 job aspirants of around ₹2.44 crore by promising them jobs in the Indian Railways.

The arrested man and his associates allegedly duped more than 40 job aspirants of around ₹2.44 crore by promising them jobs in the Indian Railways. (Shutterstock)

Police said the members of the gang issued fake appointment letters to the candidates, conducted their medical examinations and organised a three-month long job training in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun to make the entire selection procedure look genuine.

Two members of the racket--Brij Kishore (34) and Sachin Kumar (36)--were arrested last month in the case. “One of the two posed as a senior IAS officer and claimed of having links in the railways recruitment board to win the confidence of the candidates,” said additional commissioner of police (EOW) R K Singh.

The EOW, Singh said, received complaints from job aspirants, who alleged that after completing the training at Dehradun, when they went to their first posting at a railway office in Jharkand’s Jamshedpur, they were told that the railway board had not released any advertisement about vacancies. A case was registered with the EOW in January this year based on the complaints of the job seekers--many of whom are from villages around Agra and Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar’s Patna.

During interrogation, police said, the suspects named one Mohammad Raghib Firoz, a resident of Greater Noida, who was absconding. The investigating team collected information about Firoz’s whereabouts and nabbed him from Greater Noida last week. Firoz is a post graduate in psychology and also holds a diploma in mass communication and journalism, said police.

“In the present case, Firoz coordinated all the activities, including collecting money from the candidates, filling various forms related to their appointment and training, apart from managing other affairs in the commission of the economic offence,” said Singh.

Police said the suspects did not publish any advertisement regarding the job vacancies. They spread information through word of mouth that they had solid links in the railways department through which they can secure jobs for interested candidates.

“We have learnt that the number of victims is not less than 100. While 40 of them have been identified and approached, efforts are on to find others,” said an investigator, who asked not to be named.