A major fraud case has come to light from Jalandhar Heights where a woman was arrested for allegedly cheating people by promising government jobs in exchange for money and police said the accused identified as Pooja Thakur posed as a senior administrative officer and convinced people that she could arrange direct appointments in government departments without any examination or interview.
According to investigation so far the fraud may be worth more than ₹1 crore and police suspect that over 200 people could have been targeted in alleged scam following which accused was arrested on Tuesday evening during a raid conducted by Sadar Police at Jalandhar Heights. A case has been registered against her under various sections related to fraud and further investigation is underway.
Police said that during raid around 200 fake appointment letters were recovered from accused and these documents allegedly carried forged signatures of government officials and counterfeit official seals and investigators also recovered several fake stamps and other documents believed to have been used in the operation.
According to police sources Pooja Thakur had shifted to Jalandhar Heights only recently and after moving there she allegedly built an image of being a highly connected and influential person. She reportedly told people that she had been selected for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) and would soon join duty in Delhi.
Police said the accused used these claims to gain trust of people and she allegedly told job seekers that she had access to a special quota through senior government officials and staff members and through this supposed network she claimed she could secure direct appointments in various government posts including police inspector, sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and government doctor.
Many people reportedly believed her claims and approached her for jobs. Investigators said she collected large sums of money from individuals who were looking for government employment and some victims were allegedly asked to pay lakhs of rupees in exchange for appointment letters.
To make the scheme appear genuine, the accused allegedly used a website designed to resemble an official government portal and according to sources the website was modeled after Ministry of Home Affairs. Police said that whenever a person paid money for a job the accused would generate an appointment letter through the website and hand it over to the applicant and the documents appeared authentic making it difficult for victims to suspect fraud.
The matter came to light after a woman doctor became suspicious and according to information gathered during the investigation the accused allegedly promised the doctor a government job and showed recruitment-related documents as proof. The doctor reportedly paid ₹2 lakh to the accused and later she was given an appointment letter.
However when the doctor verified the documents she discovered that they were fake following this the matter was reported to the police leading to an investigation.
Police sources said the accused may have also targeted around a dozen residents of Jalandhar Heights and nearby areas and some individuals allegedly paid amounts ranging between ₹12 lakh and ₹15 lakh after being promised government jobs. During the search operation, police also recovered an identity card allegedly linked to Ministry of Home Affairs and investigators believe accused used the card to create an impression of authority and gain people's confidence. Another identity card carrying a Shimla address was also seized during the raid.
Police are currently examining whether these identity cards are genuine or were also created as part of alleged fraud and officials said several documents recovered from the accused are being verified.
Sadar Police SHO Sanjeev Suri said senior police officials are personally monitoring the investigation and police are now trying to identify all possible victims and determine whether other individuals were involved in alleged scam and officials believe more details may emerge as the investigation progresses meanwhile plice are examining financial transactions, recovered documents, digital records and other evidence collected during the raid.