Job racketeers dupe youths of Rs 49 lakh

PUNE: The Sahakarnagar police have booked seven people for allegedly duping many youths to the tune of Rs 49 lakh in the last eight months by luring them with jobs abroad. They have now shut their shops and fled.
One of the victims, Mohan Vishnu Dethe (30) of Pandharpur in Solapur district, has lodged a complaint with the Sahakarnagar police station. Dethe, an MBA graduate, said the suspects promised jobs in Singapore, Malaysia and the Gulf countries.
Dethe told TOI that he came across the phone numbers and office address of the suspects, located in Sahakarnagar, on a website. "I visited the office this February and they promised me a job in one of the countries after taking photocopies of my education certificates and other documents," he said.
Dethe paid the money and kept waiting for the offer. Like Dethe, many others had paid money to the suspects. Last week, when the youths visited the office, they found it locked.
Police inspector A T Waghmale of Sahakarnagar police station told TOI the suspects had locked their office and disappeared. "The suspects are from Kondhwa. They had hired offices in a building in Sahakarnagar and after taking money from the youths, they locked the office and are on run," he said.
"The suspects had advertised as consultants on a website. After reading the reviews, many youths visited the office. At present, police have received complaints from 39 youths. Each has claimed to have paid Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.50 lakh," Waghmale said.
Dethe said the suspects did not bother about the educational qualifications of the youths and accepted money from all who visited their offices. "They had promised me a finance manager's post in a Singapore-based company," he said.