Four men were arrested on Wednesday afternoon for allegedly running a job racket that used to dupe job aspirants with promises of placement in Dubai-based companies against payment.
The accused men who hail from Kerala, Asansol, Murshidabad and Jamui in Bihar had opened an office in Dum Dum’s Palpara and were arrested based on a complaint lodged by Saddam Hussain from Bhagalpur in Bihar, a senior officer of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate said.
According to the officer, the complainant had come across an online job advertisement that promised lucrative jobs in Dubai.
Hussain called the numbers posted in the advertisement and was asked to visit an office called Recruit World Private Limited in Palpara where he was asked to sit for a “preliminary job interview” in February last year, the police said.
“He was then asked to pay Rs 70,000 as a processing fee for his visa to Dubai and other miscellaneous charges. Hussain paid up and was asked to visit the office a few days later,” said the officer.
Hussain had also paid Rs 10,000 as charges towards his “medical check-up and certificate”, the officer said.
On Tuesday, Hussain was called to the office in Dum Dum and was asked to pay Rs 50,000 more for “further processing charges of his Dubai visa”, the officer added.
“When Hussain asked them to show him some papers regarding the job he had got in Dubai, the men told him he could either pay or leave. The man also showed him a purported visa for Malaysia and told him his visa and job application would get processed if he paid the additional money,” said the officer.
Realising that he had been duped, Hussain went to the airport police station and filed a complaint.
A team from the airport police station then went to the office and questioned the men about their company. The men allegedly could not provide any records or their trade
licence.
The police said they also met a few other youths who had come to the office for job interviews.
“The men running the office could not provide any valid documents required to run a commercial establishment. It became clear that they were running a job
racket. The four were then arrested by our team,” said Badana Varun Chandrasekhar, joint commissioner (headquarters), Bidhannagar City Police.
The four have been identified as Rafi Ahmed, 41, from Asansol, Abdullah Kafi, 30, from Murshidabad, Mohammed Firoz, 45, from Kerala and Dayanand Prasad, 57, from Jamui in Bihar.
They used to stay in rented accommodations in Dum Dum, a police officer said.
