Sadar Police in Jalandhar have arrested a woman accused of posing as a high ranking government official and allegedly cheating people by promising government jobs and the accused has been identified as Pooja Thakur. Police suspect that more than 200 people may have been cheated in the alleged fraud and according to police the case came to light after a complaint was filed by Dr. Manmahak of AGI following which the complainant alleged that Pooja Thakur had taken around ₹18 lakh from him on promise of arranging a government job. Following the complaint Sadar Police registered an FIR against the accused under charges related to fraud and other offences.
Station House Officer (SHO) Sanjeev Suri said that the accused was produced before a court after her arrest and the court remanded her to three days of police custody for further investigation.
Police investigations revealed that Pooja Thakur had been living in a flat in Jalandhar Heights-3 for the past four to five months. During this period, she allegedly came into contact with residents while taking walks in local parks and according to investigators she would start conversations with people and gradually gain their trust.
Police said that the accused allegedly presented herself as highly educated and influential person and she reportedly told people that she held a Ph.D in Mathematics and that her parents had passed away. She also allegedly claimed to have worked at MHO and stated that she had strong connections within Union Ministry of Home Affairs and she reportedly told people that she herself was employed there.
During investigation police allegedly discovered that accused possessed letterheads of various government departments and investigators said that after collecting money from people on the promise of government jobs she would prepare and print fake appointment letters using a computer and hand them over to victims.
Police said that accused had allegedly fixed rates for different government posts and according to investigators she allegedly charged ₹3 lakh for post of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), ₹1.5 lakh for a doctor's job, ₹1.5 lakh for a constable's job and ₹1.5 lakh for a nurse's job.
Inspector Sanjeev Kumar, SHO of Sadar Police Station, said that during a search, police recovered fake appointment letters, forged government identity cards, a laptop and a mobile phone from the accused and no cash was recovered during the operation.
Police interrogation has also pointed towards a possible interstate network and according to investigators the accused told police that the alleged mastermind behind the operation is based in Delhi and she reportedly informed victims that her main office was located in Delhi.
Police further claimed that a person referred to as a "rider" would allegedly travel from Delhi to Jalandhar every other day to collect money from her. Investigators are now examining these claims and attempting to identify other individuals who may be connected to the alleged racket. After her medical examination at Civil Hospital the accused was taken for further questioning following which police said that investigations are continuing and efforts are underway to identify the alleged mastermind and any other persons involved in the case.
