Patna man held for duping 34 jobless youngsters

PATNA: A con man posing as a private assistant (PA) to a senior income-tax (I-T) department official duped over 34 educated unemployed youths of Rs 2 crore on the pretext of providing them lucrative jobs in central government organisations.
Police said that one Krishna Rai (50), was picked up from his residence at Rajeev Nagar, road number 24, under Rajeev Nagar police station here on Tuesday night after a Bagaha resident Yuvraj Mahto lodged a complaint against him.During interrogation, Krishna confessed to the crime and told the interrogators that he had been operating in the state since 2017. He had collected around Rs 2 crore from 34 youths hailing from different districts, including West Champaran, East Champaran and Samastipur.
The fraud came to the fore when a few candidates, who were provided appointment letters, were told by the department officials concerned that the letters were fake and had fallen victim to a job racket thriving in the state. One of the victims, Yuvraj, lodged a complaint with the Rajeev Nagar police station on Tuesday.
Rajeev Nagar police station SHO Nishant Kumar said on Wednesday that the 50-year-old imposter initially tried to mislead the police by disclosing his wrong identity as an I-T official but soon revealed the truth. “ He was today produced before a local court, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days,” the SHO said.
The SHO said the bank accounts of the arrested fraud would be frozen soon to prevent withdrawal of money. Besides, police would take him on police remand for further interrogation, he said, adding that he was stated to be the mastermind of a well-planned job racket.
A senior police official said on the condition of anonymity police would also ascertain his links with the employees of the I-T department, if any. A few duped youths told the police that he often talked to an I-T official over phone. “ The analysis of the call detail records of his mobile phone will throw more light in this regard,” he added.
The officer, who is monitoring the investigation, said the crime took place between 2017 and 2019. Krishna, the alleged mastermind, has also set up a full-fledged office to make the candidates believe that he was an employee of the I-T department. Some candidates alleged that they were asked to deposit their original certificates in lieu of cash.
Nishant said the criminal antecedents of the arrested mastermind of the job racket were also being verified by the police. He said raids are on to nab other members of the gang, which mainly duped educated youths aspiring for lucrative jobs in central government organisations.