Mumbai crime: Two held for trapping 89 people with fake job offers

The lure of job offers in foreign countries, has landed 89 people in a trap designed by a gang of five, who used to run a placement racket from an office based in Hiranandani at Powai. Two of the five gang members held

Pic for representation

The lure of job offers in foreign countries, has landed 89 people in a trap designed by a gang of five, who used to run a placement racket from an office based in Hiranandani at Powai. Though the cops have arrested two of them, identified as Wasiullah Qureshi and Izhar Husain Iqbal Husain, the others are still at large. While a total of 34 people registered a complaint with the Powai police station, another 55 had approached the Sahar cops.

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Modus operandi
Last year the gang opened a placement organisation in Hiranandani, for which they advertised on the Internet. They claimed to provide good job opportunities to freshers as well as experienced people in companies based in Dubai. Following this, many people approached them. One of the victims, who had submitted her education certificates, passport and other documents to the company, said that she had to pay Rs 91,000 to undergo various tests and get different approvals.

She further said, "A company official called me in October last year and said that I had been selected for a job in Saudi Arabia. They called me for a medical examination and mentioned that I would have to leave on October 28. I was supposed to collect my visa and ticket from the office on October 27. However, when I reached the office, it was locked. Many others were also waiting to collect their documents. When we tried to call on the number given to us, it was found switched off. That is when we realised that the entire process was fake and immediately rushed to the police station to register a complaint." The 34 people, who had registered a complaint at Powai police station, were cheated of Rs 26 lakh.

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Three still at large
Both the Powai and Sahar police have interrogated Qureshi and Husain. After being produced in court, Qureshi was remanded in police custody. The other three members of the gang identified as Nagesh alias Milind, Neelsingh alias Rizwan and Rakesh alias Arun alias Arvind, are still on the run. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an officer from Powai police station said, "We have formed a team to look for the other accused. We are in touch with the Sahar cops, who are also investigating the case."

Rs 91k
The amount given by one of the victims to the company

Rs 26 lakh
The total amount that the company took from 34 job aspirants

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