Army, Pune cops jointly bust fake recruitment racket; nab two

Photo for representational purpose

In a joint operation, the Army and the Pune police busted a fraudulent recruitment module, in which aspirants were promised jobs in various government services like the railways, banking, and Territorial Army, defence authorities said on Wednesday.

Two persons have been apprehended in this connection from Solapur district in Maharashtra, and the duo appears to be part of a "bigger racket", they said.

"A fraudulent recruitment module involving the issuance of recruitment documents and circulation of results of prospective candidates through fake websites, for their selection into various government services like railways, banking, and Territorial Army, etc, being run from Pune, has been busted jointly by Army and police authorities," a defence release said.

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It was busted following a tip-off provided by the intelligence agencies of the Army's Southern Command, it said. The module recently hosted a fake website of the Territorial Army with uploaded names of selected candidates on it and a probe revealed that they were charging a hefty amount for the fraudulent recruitment from innocent aspirants wanting to join these services, it added.

"The aspirants were not only charged for their selection, but also were made to bear the expenses of travel, boarding and lodging during their trips to different dubious locations for fraudulent written exams, medical tests, and training to post the fraudulent recruitment," the release stated.

On the intervening night of May 31 and June 1, two kingpins - Bharat Krishna Kate and Pandit Pawar, were apprehended from Solapur, along with ample evidence, by a team from the Crime Branch, it said.

These touts were charging Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh from the aspiring candidates, giving them false promises for their selection in government services.

"The innocent aspirants were made to believe about their selection through fake call letters, admit cards, joining letters, medicals and training at dubious locations. The duo is part of a bigger racket, which is being probed by Crime Branch and Army," the defence release said.

The joint proactive action of the Southern Command and the Maharashtra police is reflective of the Army's zero-tolerance towards corruption, the defence authorities said.

They also urged candidates not to fall prey to these inimical elements and report any such luring incidents to army authorities immediately.

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