Around 1,500 youths from Bihar, UP and other parts of north India were cheated by fraudsters who promised them jobs in the Maharashtra forest department and issued them fake appointment letters.
The racket came to light when the youths reached Pune and found that the address of the office they were asked to join was fake.
The police said the youths applied for various jobs after they saw an advertisement in ‘Rojgar Samachar’ in Bihar in December 2010, which said 2,100 posts were available in the forest department.
The youths applied on the address mentioned in the advertisement after which they got calls from a company, Audyogik Vikas, that claimed to be a government firm.
At the company office in Patna, a person called Suraj Singh took interviews. He told the aspirants to pay a refundable security deposit of Rs 7,300 along with Rs 500 for police verification and Rs 300 as registration fees.
Those who paid the money got the joining letters, asking them to report to one Kanesh Lohriya at an address in Pune’s Shivajinagar between May 13 and May 18.
When the youths, numbering hundreds, arrived in Pune since May 13, they found that the address mentioned on the joining letters was fake.
The youths then approached the police with the help of a local resident.