A bizarre case has emerged from Motihari in Bihar, where a young man who had been reporting for duty in a police uniform at Bapudham railway station for nearly ten days was caught by Nagar Thana police. Questioning revealed that the man himself had fallen victim to a massive job fraud, and had genuinely believed he had become a police constable.
Nagar Thana police swing into action on a tip-off
As soon as police received information about an unknown young man roaming the station in uniform, a team led by Nagar Thana in-charge Rajeev Ranjan moved quickly. After investigation, the accused was taken into custody. He was identified as Pawan Kumar, son of Shambhu Ram, a resident of Ismail village under Rajepur police station area in East Champaran district.
A worker in Maharashtra was promised a constable's job
Pawan told police that he used to work as a labourer in Maharashtra. During this time, his mother came in contact with Harendra Ram, a resident of Patahi. Harendra claimed he had strong contacts in the Patna Secretariat and assured that he could easily get Pawan a job as a police constable. Convinced by this promise, Pawan's mother called him back home from Maharashtra.
Prepared in Muzaffarpur with his sister, then asked for Rs 4 lakh in Patna
After returning home, Pawan began preparing for the job while staying with his sister in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Some time later, Harendra Ram took him to Patna, where he was introduced to Basudev Ram and his wife. It is alleged that the two demanded Rs 4 lakh from Pawan in exchange for confirming his appointment as a constable. According to Pawan, he paid the entire amount, transferring Rs 1 lakh online and handing over the remaining Rs 3 lakh in cash.
Sent to Motihari station on the false news that his job was confirmed
Pawan said that around 15 days ago, he was told that his job as a constable had come through, and he was immediately sent to Bapudham railway station in Motihari for duty. Since then, he had been travelling from Muzaffarpur to Motihari every day, putting on a police uniform to perform duty at the station before returning home each evening. Throughout this period, he was fully convinced that he had actually become a government constable, unaware that he had been swindled.
Police now hunting for the rest of the gang
As soon as the matter came to light, Nagar Thana police launched an investigation and took the young man into custody. Police are now trying to establish who else, besides Harendra Ram and Basudev Ram, is part of the gang running this job fraud racket. Investigators are also trying to determine where the accused obtained the police uniform and other equipment from, and whether the accused himself was also a victim of this fraud.
