Pune crime: Man lures 17 job seekers with false promises

Vishrantwadi police has arrested a 31-year-old man on charges of duping 17 people on the pretext of offering them jobs in the Tata Telecommunications office at Dighi. The suspect had taken R3,000 from each of them, and was absconding for 16 days, till some of the victims spotted him and alerted the police.

The accused, identified as Vikas Manohar Salunkhe (31), is a resident of Ganeshnagar in Bopkhel. He has been charged under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. Kalpita Mahendra Chavan (28), also from Bopkhel, has lodged a complaint in this regard against Salunkhe at Vishrantwadi police station.

PSI Dilip Chandan, investigating officer in the case, said, "Complainant Chavan and Salunkhe knew each other, as their native place is the same. Salunkhe had offered Chavan a job in the security department on May 21. In return, Salunkhe had demanded R3,000 from Chavan. He had taken the money from Chavan to bring her a new uniform.

With Chavan's help, Salunkhe approached 16 others from Bopkhel area and took Rs 3,000 from each of them. Later, Salunkhe started avoiding Chavan whenever he was asked about the job. He even switched off his mobile phone and changed his place of residence."

He aded, "On Friday, Salunkhe was spotted by a few victims in the Ganeshnagar area. They nabbed him and informed the police. Accordingly, our team went to the spot and took Salunkhe in custody. When questioned about the Rs 51,000 he had extracted from the victims, Salunkhe claimed that he had given it to someone else. We suspect that Salunkhe spent all the money on alcohol."