Fraudster who duped people of Rs 2.9cr on pretext of jobs arrested

Pilibhit: A man from Gujarat was arrested Monday in connection with a gang that allegedly duped unemployed individuals of Rs 2.9 crore on the pretext of helping them secure jobs in the Indian Railways. Rs 2 lakh in cash was recovered from his possession and 14 of his bank accounts used in the racket were frozen, said police in Pilibhit.Additional SP Vikram Dahiya said that Shiv Shankar Mishra, a resident of Bharuch district in Gujarat, had been operating the racket since 2021. "With the help of his gang members, he targeted 60 people from different locations, including Pilibhit, Bareilly and Lucknow. Cases had been registered against him in all three districts last year," he said.The arrest on Monday was made in connection with an FIR lodged at Amaria police station in Pilibhit on Sept 16 last year. In his complaint, Rajkumar Prasad, a resident of Bhuda village in Pilibhit district, had accused Mishra of duping him of Rs 18 lakh in instalments under the same pretext since Oct 10, 2022. A case had been registered against him under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of IPC.The ASP said that during an investigation, 23 more individuals filed separate complaints, claiming that they were cumulatively duped of Rs 2.9 crore.During interrogation, Mishra admitted to duping 60 persons and transferring an amount of Rs 1.5 crore to the bank accounts of his children and wife, Rekha Mishra. He told police that in order to win the trust of the victims, he would show them a fake appointment letter of his daughter and transfer up to Rs 45,000 to their accounts, claiming that they had secured the job.The ASP said investigation is underway to identify and arrest others involved in the racket.